Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Flipkart's $1 Billion In Funding Puts India Startups In The Big Leagues

More proof of India’s rise as one of the Silicon Valleys of the world can certainly be seen in the latest mega venture financing of leading Indian e-commerce startup Flipkart. With $1 billion in new funding, Flipkart joins the big leagues for not only the largest amount raised by an Indian company but among the largest for an e-commerce company globally.
I’ve been writing that this Silicon Tiger nation would catch up to China’s Silicon Dragon, and the evidence keeps piling up. Flipkart raised the sum from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, as well as existing investors including Tiger Global Management, Naspers, Accel Partners and Morgan Stanley Investment Management. This latest deal for Flipkart follows a $210 million fund raising this past May and Flipkart’s acquisition of fashion retailing site Myntra, which also is venture backed.
I first covered Flipkart (and also Myntra) in my book Startup Asia, after meeting with the founders — Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal — in Bangalore in 2010.
Keep reading post at Forbes, Flipkart.