At the end of July, Flipkart (The largest E-commerce service in India) raised a massive $1 billion, and less than six months later the Indian e-commerce company is ending off the year with another $700 million round.
The round includes money from existing investors DST Global, GIC, ICONIQ Capital and Tiger Global, and new backers Baillie Gifford, Greenoaks Capital, Steadview Capital, T. Rowe PriceAssociates​ and Qatar Investment Authority.
Adding that to the $210 million they closed in May, this round makes Flipkart past $2 billion in investor money in 2014, and around $2.7 billion in total.
Currently, Flipkart has over 14,000 staff and receives of 6 million monthly visits from 26-million plus registered users. It is said that the new funding will be spent on “long-term strategic investments in India” and on developing its technology and custom service platform. Earlier this year, Flipkart acquired the fashion-focused rival Myntra, and it looks like its open to snapping up other services and startups to boost their ever-fierce rivalry with big competitors, such as Amazon India and Snapdeal.
Amazon had finally launched its service in India back in 2013, but in 2014 it really sped up in the process of making itself known through India. In addition to investing $2 billion in its local operations (just a day after Flipkart announced its $1 billion raise), the company snapped up a number of exclusive sales deals including Chinese phone company OnePlus.
Snapdeal made its own mega round this year when SoftBank led a $627 million round that closed in October. Despite the intense competition and rivals, and the amount of money and the price it costs to stay afloat, companies like Flipkart are using as much of their resources as possible to stay both online and ahead of the competition.
What are your thoughts on Flipkart’s year-end rounds? Leave a comment below!
source(s):
techcrunch