Google to Invest $350M in Indian E-commerce Marketplace Flipkart

Google LLC is set to accumulate a $350 million stake in Flipkart Pvt Ltd., India’s largest e-commerce organisation, according to Bloomberg. This investment might be part of a nearly $1 billion investment spherical, with Walmart Inc., Flipkart’s majority stakeholder, leading the rate. In December, Walmart had already announced plans to inject $six hundred million into the e-commerce giant.

Founded in 2007 and primarily based in Bengaluru, Flipkart commenced as an internet bookstore. Over the years, the employer extended into numerous product classes by way of acquiring competition. Today, Flipkart's e-commerce marketplace gives over 150 million gadgets and boasts a user base of greater than four hundred million customers.

One outstanding acquisition was the cellular bills startup PhonePe, which Flipkart offered for $20 million in 2017. PhonePe grew to turn out to be India’s most popular cellular bills platform and later spun off as an unbiased organisation.

In 2018, Walmart received a 77% majority stake in Flipkart for $16 billion. Last 12 months, Walmart improved its stake through shopping $1.4 billion really worth of shares from Tiger Global. This transaction valued Flipkart at $35 billion, barely beneath the $38 billion valuation in 2021.

The upcoming $1 billion funding round, which includes Google’s $350 million contribution, is expected to raise Flipkart's valuation to $37 billion. The specific stake Google will acquire became not disclosed, however the groups confirmed that Flipkart plans to beautify its use of Google’s cloud platform as part of the deal.

“Google’s proposed investment and its cloud collaboration will assist Flipkart extend its enterprise and boost the modernization of its virtual infrastructure to serve customers across the united states,” Flipkart said.

This deal follows Google’s $1 billion investment in Bharti Airtel Ltd., one among India’s largest internet carriers, introduced two years in the past. Approximately a third of that funding was dedicated to move-to-market and product collaborations. Previously, Google bought a 7.73% stake in mobile community operator Jio Platforms Ltd., Bharti Airtel’s major competitor, for $4.Five billion.

Meanwhile, Amazon.Com Inc. Is likewise ramping up its investments in India. Last year, Amazon introduced plans to invest nearly $26 million within the united states of america by 2030, adding to the over $6.5 billion it has already spent during the last decade to grow its neighborhood e-commerce market, which competes directly with Flipkart.