India based e-commerce company Flipkart says it has raised $1 billion in funds as it battles US giant Amazon for supremacy in the hyper-competitive local market.<\/p>\n
Flipkart, set up in 2007 by two former Amazon employees, said Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC was among those to participate in the fundraising, the latest injection of money into the e-commerce market.<\/p>\n
“The fresh round of funding is a great milestone in the e-commerce industry of India. Very few internet companies in the world could have raised such funds publicly,” Flipkart’s co-founder Sachin Bansal told reporters in Bangalore.<\/p>\n
Flipkart is the country’s biggest online shopping portal in an e-commerce market that is still puny next to China’s.<\/p>\n
But the market, whose sales reached $2.3 billion in 2013 according to Indian consultancy Technopak, is expanding rapidly, with venture capitalists pouring money into the sector, scenting potential.<\/p>\n
Bansal, whose firm began with music and books and expanded rapidly into mobiles, appliances and other goods, said the funding was “validation of the view that India’s Internet could produce multi-billion dollar companies”.<\/p>\n
Flipkart has earlier drawn backers such as New-York based venture capitalists Tiger Global Management LLC and announced earlier this year that it had passed the one billion sales mark.<\/p>\n
In May, Flipkart said it was taking over rival Myntra, India’s top online fashion venture, in a deal analysts estimated at $330 million – the largest of a string of transactions in the sector over the past two years.<\/p>\n
Flipkart has been helped greatly by its service that allows customers to pay by cash-on-delivery. Many Indians do not own bank cards while others feel uncomfortable using them online.<\/p>\n
Amazon, which entered the market mid last year, has been aggressively ramping up its presence in India through services such as same-day delivery, as well as large-scale advertising.<\/p>\n
The US giant earlier this week said it would set up large warehouses in India to ensure speedy delivery.<\/p>\n
JSE-listed e-commerce firm, Naspers, said it upped its stake in the India based e-commerce firm to 17.7%, following a R543 million cash injection in May.<\/p>\n
Naspers injects further cash into Flipkart<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n