Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart plans to raise $1 billion ahead of IPO

Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart is in preliminary talks with a group of new investors to raise at least $1 billion , according to two people familiar with the matter.

And depending on investor interest, the round could double to $2 billion , mainly to boost Flipkart's pre-IPO valuation and better compete with the deep-pocketed Amazon and Reliance Industries.

Several of Flipkart’s major investors declined to comment on the fundraising talks earlier this month, and the e-commerce company did not respond to requests for comment.

After receiving $1.2 billion in financing last year , Flipkart 's valuation has risen to $249 billion. This pre-IPO financing will increase Flipkart 's valuation to as high as $30 billion.

In the first half of last year, India's 53-day nationwide lockdown affected Flipkart 's GMV growth. But the rebound in its business ultimately led to Flipkart's fourth-quarter results being very impressive. The growth in GMV in the quarter was about twice that of the full year . During last year's festive sales, more than 250 million customers in India used the e-commerce platform.

Bengaluru-based Flipkart is on par with Amazon in India. The e-commerce group has invested more than $6.5 billion in the South Asian market .

Both Flipkart and Amazon have made big bets in recent years to expand their presence in India, launching support for Hindi ( Flipkart has also added several other Indian languages ) and partnering with neighborhood stores.

As one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the world, India is set to grow further as more first-time internet users start shopping online .

However , India has been hit by a second wave of coronavirus infections since early April , which has again prompted some Indian states to impose restrictions on the provision of non-essential services by e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart . Flipkart announced that it is working to strengthen its grocery infrastructure while expanding into new categories.

Last year, Reuters reported that Flipkart may go public overseas in 2021. But one of the people familiar with the matter said that in recent months, the company has also discussed internally postponing its listing to early next year . However, it is reported that the company still plans to apply for an IPO later this year .

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