If sources at vccircle.com are to be believed, Flipkart.com, the Indian e-commerce portal, is set to raise $150 m USD from PE firm General Atlantic Partners at a $1 billion USD valuation. Neither companies have confirmed or denied the news. If the news is correct, this will be the first Indian Internet company to cross billion dollar valuation mark.
Some industry experts are already questioning if we are in a bubble? Flipkart currently does about $6 million USD revenues every month and has an employee strength of 1500 in India, according to VCCircle.com. Even with such revenues, the valuation is stretched. The only reason for such high valuation could be the “potential growth” in Indian e-commerce space.
Flipkart has raised money from venture capital firm Tiger Global and early stage investor Accel Partners in the past. The latest $150 million USD potential funding could be shot in the arm for Flipkart.com and will help them prepare for Amazon’s entry the Indian market. There are unconfirmed reports that Flipkart had rejected a take over offer from Amazon in the past.
Flipkart is one success story that every Indian Entrepreneur dreams about. Known for its simple and usable website design, competitive prices, excellent customer service and delivery network, Flipkart has seen massive growth since its inception in 2007.
General Atlantic Partners is a Private Equity firm with over 17 billion USD of assets under management. It has invested in companies such as Facebook, Peixeurbano, the group buying site based in Brazil and Kaspersky Lab.
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