Walmart-owned Flipkart has now set up a more structured unit, that will look into the company’s aggressively growing acquisition ambitions. The news, reported by ET, has been confirmed by a Flipkart statement issued to the same publication. The fund, according to unconfirmed reports, is somewhere between the $60-$100 million range.
Confirming the development to ET, Flipkart’s McNeal said, “Flipkart’s innovations have helped create much of the ecosystem on which the Indian e-commerce industry has thrived over the past decade. We are seeing startups today trying to solve unique challenges that could help bring millions more into the digital fold helping contribute to ‘Digital India’ programme. With this initiative, we are delighted to support such innovative early-stage startups that are working on next-gen technology in and around our ecosystem.”
While Flipkart has already been into mergers and acquisitions for quite some time, this will be a more structured unit with possibility of a dedicated team handling the fund. The company will look into investing in services that are allied with eCommerce. But considering the whole gamut of services that are now associated with eCommerce, it could well be a very sector agnostic fund.
On the competitor’s end, Amazon has already been doing channelised investments into Indian startups off late. The company’s more recent major investments were in fintech startups like Capital Float among others.
