Strengthening Flipkart’s muscles to counter US teck giant Amazon, Tencent, eBay and Microsoft have pledged to invest $1.4 billion in the e-commerce giant.
“The biggest investment in Flipkart’s 10-year history comes at an opportune moment for e-commerce in India,” according to Flipkart.
"Tencent, eBay and Microsoft have made investments aggregating to $1.4 billion in Flipkart,” it added.
Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, founders of Flipkart, are delighted with the investment.
“We are delighted that Tencent, eBay and Microsoft have chosen to partner with us on their India journey,” the founders said.
“This deal reaffirms our resolve to hasten the transformation of commerce in India through technology,” they added.
Besides, eBay has signed an agreement with Flipkart to capture larger market share of the fast-growing e-commerce industry.
“In exchange for an equity stake in Flipkart, eBay Inc is making cash investment and selling its eBay.in business to Flipkart. eBay.in will continue to operate as an independent entity as a part of Flipkart,” the company stated.
Last year, Flipkart’s direct competitor Amazon said that it would invest over $5 billion in India. The US tech giant is seeking to expand aggressively in India where a rising middle class is increasingly shopping online.
Meanwhile, according to reports, Flipkart is planning to buy Snapdeal to push its business in the country. The initiator of the talks is Softbank Corp, which is a Japanese investor in Snapdeal, wants US-based Tiger Global, the biggest investor in Flipkart, to consider a merger, according to media reports.