The Indian business rumour mill is currently buzzing with rumours that Flipkart, which is the country's biggest e-commerce company, is holding meetings with several investors in a bid to raise a whopping $1 billion in funding. If Flipkart is successful in its mission, it will be the e-commerce giant's biggest funding round till date.
Though no information about the names of the potential investors or the exact valuation that the e-commerce biggie is eyeing has come to light yet, but a source familiar with the development has informed Reuters that Flipkart is hopeful of raking in a "double digits" valuations, referring that valuation would definitely be $10 billion or more.
Recently the Financial Express newspaper had quoted an unidentified source saying that expected fundraising could value the Indian e-commerce biggie at up to $8 billion, a figure which is almost 50 percent lower than the roughly $15 billion that the company was valued in the last funding round.
For now, Flipkart has refused to confirm or deny any of the rumours and said that the company will not be commenting on any market speculations.
Though currently number one in the country, Flipkart is facing a stiff competition from US biggie Amazon.com Inc and homegrown Softbank Group backed Snapdeal. The latest Flipkart fundraising effort seems to be an effort of getting ahead in the race.
Indian e-commerce players have been going through a rough patch from last year, with many suffering huge losses in valuations. Some of the funds that had invested their money in Flipkart have reportedly cited securities filings and slashed the value of their holdings in the e-commerce giant.
Flipkart, which was launched in the year 2007 by two former Amazon employees Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, has so far been successful in raising more than $3 billion in funding, most of which came from international investors. Its biggest investor is U.S-based hedge fund Tiger Global. Others include Accel Partners, DST Global and Baillie Gifford.
We will keep you updated if and when the funding round takes place.
Though no information about the names of the potential investors or the exact valuation that the e-commerce biggie is eyeing has come to light yet, but a source familiar with the development has informed Reuters that Flipkart is hopeful of raking in a "double digits" valuations, referring that valuation would definitely be $10 billion or more.
Recently the Financial Express newspaper had quoted an unidentified source saying that expected fundraising could value the Indian e-commerce biggie at up to $8 billion, a figure which is almost 50 percent lower than the roughly $15 billion that the company was valued in the last funding round.
For now, Flipkart has refused to confirm or deny any of the rumours and said that the company will not be commenting on any market speculations.
Though currently number one in the country, Flipkart is facing a stiff competition from US biggie Amazon.com Inc and homegrown Softbank Group backed Snapdeal. The latest Flipkart fundraising effort seems to be an effort of getting ahead in the race.
Indian e-commerce players have been going through a rough patch from last year, with many suffering huge losses in valuations. Some of the funds that had invested their money in Flipkart have reportedly cited securities filings and slashed the value of their holdings in the e-commerce giant.
Flipkart, which was launched in the year 2007 by two former Amazon employees Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, has so far been successful in raising more than $3 billion in funding, most of which came from international investors. Its biggest investor is U.S-based hedge fund Tiger Global. Others include Accel Partners, DST Global and Baillie Gifford.
We will keep you updated if and when the funding round takes place.
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