Barely few weeks had passed when Flipkart had successfully acquired online fashion retailer Myntra, the company has set out on another expedition to plot the next phase of growth via funds. The existing round of funding is however boasted as biggest so far.
It is learned that the Russian investment firm DST Global will pump in about $200 million into the Bangalore-based online retailer. DST Global is owned by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, a serial e-commerce investor who has bought stakes in corporate bigwigs like US-based Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. as well as China’s Alibaba Group. Flipkart is Bangalore based India’s largest e-commerce firm.
The company that had bought rival Myntra.com last week in the largest-ever e-commerce deal in India, said it would use the money to improve its logistics network, expand product offerings and to acquire companies.
“It’s less about the funds and more about the association with Yuri,” Flipkart’s chief executive officer and co-founder Sachin Bansal told reporters at the company’s office in Bangalore. “He is a great visionary. He has a great network of tech founders across the world and we hope that we will get to learn through his network and meet more people. Among all the investors we know, (DST) is the best in its technology focus.”
The company, along with other players like Amazon and Snapdeal, is also continuing to discount heavily. Snapdeal recently acquired fashion discovery site Doozton and Flipkart soon joined the league by acquiring rival Myntra.com. The company’s expansion has been funded with risk capital.
Its CEO – Bansal was however quoted saying,
“Profitability is not the goal right now We are in a dominant position now, and we should continue to invest to continue to be the leader and grow the market ahead of the market “.
