In a bid to bolster its delivery operations, Flipkart has picked up minority stake in digital maps provider MapmyIndia. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Flipkart will strengthen its supply chain operations with this business partnership to license map data and location technologies from MapmyIndia. The homegrown e-tailer said that main objective of acquiring a stake in MapmyIndia is to deploy Location intelligence capabilities across Flipkart’s logistics network to strengthen its first-mile pickup and last mile delivery operations. In the future, the companies will collaborate on other services like better Address Verification, real-time Shipment Tracking, Facility Mapping and Theft Minimization via Geo-fencing among many others.
“With this strategic investment, we are taking another concrete step toward transforming the supply chain ecosystem in India, making technology and information the driver of our supply chain and logistics solutions. The integration of comprehensive and accurate location data will allow us to deliver an even more personalized and delightful experience to our customers. This partnership is a strategic fit that gives us a sustainable competitive advantage. We maintain our position as the dominant player in the e-commerce space as we continue to invest heavily in scaling our technology and platforms, always ensuring that our customers get maximum value from their association with us.”
said Binny Bansal, COO and Co-founder, Flipkart, in a statement.
We are thrilled to welcome India’s largest ecommerce marketplace, Flipkart, as a strategic minority investor, and are excited by their vision for leveraging our maps and location technologies. We look forward to sharing our domain expertise with them and adding new and fresh dimensions to their logistics operations, together transforming ecommerce to benefit more than a billion Indians”.
said Rakesh Verma, Managing Director and Co-founder, MapmyIndia, in a statement.
MapmyIndia said it will continue to serve all consumers and enterprises across industries with its full range of products. With Flipkart’s investment, MapmyIndia’s early financial investors, Nexus Venture Partners and Lightbox Ventures, will exit the company.