India's Flipkart gets record funding

Flipkart, India’s biggest e-commerce player, announced it has raised US$1 billion in fresh funding, the biggest ever by an Indian Internet company in a single round. And it is aiming higher.

Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, who set up the company in 2007 with an investment of four lakh rupees, announced the new funding at a press conference in Bangalore. They said, “India can produce a 100 billion dollar company in five years – we want to be that company.”

Flipkart is now expected to be valued at US$5 billion, according to some estimates.

The company has seen rapid growth, hitting an annualised sales mark of US$1 billion this year, a year ahead of its target.

Company co-founder Binny Bansal said the new funding will help Flipkart to invest further into the e-commerce ecosystem like logistics and payment systems.

Meanwhile, the competition for Flipkart is hotting up. Amazon and Walmart are expanding their presence in India and Reliance Retail, India’s largest retailer by revenues, is also expected to significantly increase its online presence.

Forrester estimates that the Indian e-commerce market was worth US$13 billion last year.