Google will invest $350 million in Flipkart, India’s giant e-commerce mall, valuing the company at $37 billion.
Reportedly, Walmart, Flipkart’s largest shareholder, will lead the financing round, with Google participating as a minority shareholder. The investment is also subject to antitrust and other regulatory approvals, which are expected to proceed without issue.
Flipkart commented in a statement, “Google’s proposed investment and its Cloud collaboration will help Flipkart expand its business and advance the modernization of its digital infrastructure to serve customers across the country.”
Flipkart is one of the largest e-commerce malls in India, founded in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. The duo originally met as alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and later worked as full-time employees at Amazon.
In 2018, U.S. retail giant Walmart acquired a 77% stake in the company for $16 billion. Also in July 2021, SoftBank Group Corp. and a Singapore fund, among others, invested $3.6 billion in the company.
Furthermore, in December 2023, Walmart invested $600 million in the company. Thus, Google’s investment follows Wal-Mart’s investment late last year and is part of a billion-dollar financing round.
There are also whispers of a possible IPO for Flipkart. Earlier this month, a Walmart executive said that the company is “looking and exploring” the appropriate time for an initial public offering of Flipkart.
The company currently has over 500 million registered customers. It also offers over 150 million products across over 80 categories in its Flipkart marketplace. Since receiving Walmart’s support, the company has experienced impressive growth as an e-commerce company competing with Amazon in India. However, this new capital and enhanced technological cooperation with Google is expected to strengthen Flipkart’s market position further and make it more competitive with its global rivals.