The homegrown ecommerce site Flipkart garnered a lot of attention in the form of investments from international venture capital firms and conglomerates. The latest company in line to invest in the ecommerce startup is Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc.
According to a report by The Economic Times, people close to the matter said Alphabet Inc., would probably invest $1 billion to $ 2 billion in Flipkart post Walmart’s investment. This marks the second time Walmart would be partnering with Google. In 2017, the global retail giant partnered with the technology firm, to sell Walmart’s products on Google Express, the tech giant’s online mall which also offered personalized voice shopping for Walmart products online.
Walmart is looking to buy a 51% stake in Flipkart by the end of next week in an attempt to open another front in its escalating war with Amazon. Reports suggest Flipkart’s co founder Binny Bansal may also exit the company after the acquisition which is estimated to be at a valuation of $20 billion. Binny Bansal currently claims to own around 5.5% stake in the company he helped found 11 years ago. Sachin Bansal, on the other hand, will reportedly sell his stakes but hang around the firm in some yet to be specified role.
Along with the founders, the existing investors such as China’s Tencent Holdings and the US based Tiger Global Management will also partially exit the ecommerce firm post the initial round of investment. The Japanese major SoftBank which owns a 20.8% stake in the company may completely exit the firm during the first phase of investment, sources added. Accel Partners, South African media conglomerate Naspers and US based online marketplace eBay are the other significant shareholders of Flipkart.
Google has been on an India centric approach off late, introducing various portfolio products designed specifically for the Indian audience. The technology firm recently launched Google Home and Home Mini for the Indian market followed by Google Job Search feature. Google’s India strategy also includes the rolling out products such as smart speakers, premium laptop Pixelbook and intelligent home automation products. Reports also suggested the company is looking to make a mid range smartphone especially for markets such as India. According to Morgan Stanley, the Indian ecommerce market is expected to touch a market capitalization of $200 billion by 2026. This investment in Flipkart by Google would mark the tech firm’s foray into Indian ecommerce industry.
