Flipkart raises $560 Mn more from Walmart; closes $1.3 Bn total funding in 2020

Walmart has pumped $560.45 million in Flipkart as part of the $1.2 billion round it announced in July. On Friday, the Bengaluru-based e-commerce giant allotted 39,57,960 equity shares at $141.6 per share to raise these funds, regulatory filings in Singapore show.

Qatar Investment Authority or QIA’s subsidiary INQ Holdings also picked up 57,477 shares for $8.14 million. The new tranche from both investors have come within a week of Tencent’s $62.8 million infusion in Flipkart.

With this, Flipkart has raised close to $1.3 billion in 2020. Before this fresh tranche, Walmart had pumped in $560 million in the e-commerce firm in July.

According to Fintrackr's estimate, Flipkart has been valued about $23.5 billion in the fresh infusion by Walmart and QIA. Post allotment, Walmart has upped its stake to 82.3% while QIA now controls 1.45%. Tencent owns 5.21%. Apart from Walmart, Tencent and Tiger Global are two investors who own stakes worth over $1 billion each in the company.

This fresh tranche could be the last private funding for Flipkart as the company is reportedly planning for a public listing in 2021. According to media reports, the company is likely to be listed in the US and could be valued in the range of $40-45 billion.

The fresh proceeds would help Flipkart to ramp up its operations before the beginning of the festive season. October and November are the two best business months for e-commerce platforms Flipkart and Amazon. Both companies have been recording bumper sales through their flagship events in the last several years.

Apart from ramping up its consumer business, the company will also deploy the newly-infused funds to strengthen its B2B play through Flipkart Wholesale. On Friday, Flipkart Wholesale announced expansion to 12 new cities. Currently, it offers products in the fashion category with plans to add home, kitchen and grocery verticals by the end of this year.

The new capital is crucial for Flipkart as Amazon reportedly has a lead over the former in a few categories including smartphone in FY21. In the smartphone segment, Amazon had outrun Flipkart for the very first time in quarter 2, 2019. According to Counterpoint data, Amazon had the highest ever share of 47% among online channels compared to Flipkart’s 42%.