In the largest ever ecommerce deal in India and the biggest ever funding round in India’s startup ecosystem, Flipkart raised a total of $1.4 billion from Microsoft, Tencent, eBay. After the deal, eBay India will become a part of the Flipkart group. With this fresh fund, Flipkart’s current valuation is now over $11.6 billion. Microsoft, Tencent and eBay now join Naspers Group, Tiger Global Management, DST Global and Accel Partners as investors in Flipkart.
The most remarkable part of this deal is that eBay India will now operate under Flipkart! eBay is making a cash investment and selling its eBay India business to Flipkart in exchange for an equity stake in Flipkart. However, eBay.in will continue to operate as an independent entity as a part of Flipkart.
eBay and Flipkart have also signed a cross-border trade agreement. As a result, customers of Flipkart will be able to access the global inventory of eBay and eBay’s customers will have access to the Indian inventory handled by Flipkart. Flipkart’s selleres will now have the opportunity to expand their sales globally on eBay.
Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, Founders of Flipkart said – “We are delighted that Tencent, eBay and Microsoft — all innovation powerhouses — have chosen to partner with us on their India journey. We have chosen these partners based on their long histories of pioneering industries, and the unique expertise and insights each of them bring to Flipkart. This deal reaffirms our resolve to hasten the transformation of commerce in India through technology.”
Martin Lau, Tencent President said – “This strategic partnership enables Tencent to participate in the exciting opportunities in e-commerce and payments in India. We look forward to helping Flipkart to deliver compelling experiences to users throughout India, and to contribute to the development of the internet ecosystem there”.
Devin Wenig, President and CEO of eBay Inc said – “The combination of eBay’s position as a leading global e-commerce company and Flipkart’s market stature will allow us to accelerate and maximize the opportunity for both companies in India”.
