Flipkart raises $160 mn in funding, valuation rises to $1.5 bn

Indian e-commerce giant, Flipkart, has raised $160 million after having raised $200 million in investments a few months back.

In its latest funding round the retailer tapped new and existing investors. The Rs990-crore investment came from new investors Dragoneer Investment Group, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Sofina and Vulcan Capital in addition to existing investor Tiger Global.

With this, the company's fifth round of funding mopped up a total $360 million, the largest investment raised by an internet company in India, taking its valuation to $1.5 billion, or Rs 9,760 crore.

''Flipkart has closed its latest round of funding, which had commenced in July 2013. In this phase, it has closed an additional $160 million, adding to the $200 million it had raised from existing investors including Naspers,'' the company said in a statement.

The Economic Times, reported that Flipkart was now worth more than the total market cap of all 15 listed retail companies, including Future Retail, Shoppers Stop etc.

Also among the brand-led firms, Flipkart's valuation was comparable with heavyweights such as P&G India and Tata Global Beverages, the report dded.

Since 2009, Flipkart, which was started primarily as an online bookstore by two former Amazon employees, had raised around $550 million and is regarded as the leader in e-commerce.

According to commentators, the latest fund-raising by Flipkart pointed to the growth potential of the Rs10,000-crore online retailing industry, which was expanding at 54 per cent annually, according to Internet and Mobile Association of India. 

E-commerce in India is expected to growth to $200 billion (Rs 1.2 lakh crore) by 2020.

Apart from Flipkart, online marketplace Snapdeal had so far raised around $50 million ( Rs 305 crore) while fashion e-tailer Myntra received about $25 million (Rs 152 crore) in risk capital.

The first phase of this round saw Flipkart raise $200 million from South African internet company Naspers, venture fund Accel Partners, and investment firms Tiger Global and Iconiq Capital.

With the launch of PayZippy this year, the company has ventured into payment gateway solutions. The company with a workforce of 3,000 has close to 10 lakh visitors on its website every day.

The company said in a filing with the ministry of corporate affairs, it had revenues of Rs 217 crore in 2011-12 and Rs2,000 crore in 2012-13.