With an aim to up its game in the fiercely competitive e-commerce market, Flipkart is looking forward to secure a whopping $1 billion in a latest round of funding, according to a report from Tech Crunch.
The homegrown e-commerce giant had raised $700 million in funding last year in July which valued it at $15 billion. Now, as per the report, if the company secures a latest round of funding, its $15 billion valuation is expected to be downsized. According to the sources, the funding has been delayed by 3-4 months and will result into a downround. Giving more information about the funding, the report said that one of the prospective investor in the funding round will be Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce major.
Alibaba is already a top investor in Flipkart’s rival Snapdeal. Apparently, Alibaba has already met with Flipkart’s management in Hong Kong to discuss the investment at a valuation below $10 billion while another source says the funding round will happen at valuation in the range of $11- $14 billion. Flipkart recently made some leadership changes as Binny Bansal became the CEO while Sachin Bansal was appointed as Executive Chairman.
Flipkart is still a leader in the Indian e-commerce scenario but is facing a tough competition from the likes of Amazon.in and Snapdeal.