Walmart Inc-owned Indian e-commerce company Flipkart on Monday got a shot in the arm to take on arch rival Amazon as Japan's SoftBank Group returned as an investor in a $3.6 billion funding round.
The fundraise which values Flipkart at $37.6 billion also comes at a time when the online retailer is planning to list in the US stock market.
The latest funding was led by investors GIC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Walmart, the Bengaluru-headquartered company said.
Japan's SoftBank had sold its 20% stake in Flipkart to US retail giant Walmart, which acquired a 77% stake for about $16 billion in 2018. The latest funding values the company at more than twice this value.
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"SoftBank's re-investment in Flipkart is driven by our experience with and conviction in the company's management team to continue addressing the needs of the Indian consumer in the decades to come," Lydia Jett, partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said.
The Flipkart fundraiser also attracted investments from sovereign funds DisruptAD, Qatar Investment Authority, Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Antara Capital.
"We will focus on accelerating growth for millions of small and medium Indian businesses, including kiranas," Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Flipkart Group CEO said in a statement.
Flipkart had, like its rival Amazon, started by selling books, but diversified into retailing smartphones, apparel and other electronic goods in the fast-growing Indian online market.
