Rags To Riches: Flipkart’s Journey From Rs 400,000 To $5-$6 Billion Firm

In the biggest fund-raising ever for an Indian e-commerce company, Flipkart on Tuesday attracted a whopping $1 billion from its existing investors Tiger Global Management and Naspers.

As per industry experts, the Bangalore-based company is now valued at somewhere between $5 and $6 billion - double the estimated value of $2.5-3 billion in May this year.

Flipkart co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal want to make Flipkart the country's first Internet company to be valued at $100 billion.

Flipkart has till now garnered almost $1.7 billion as it battles Amazon and Snapdeal for the top slot.

Here, we present a timeline of Flipkart’s funding – how the seven-year-old company that founders started off with just Rs 400,000 – is now worth thousands of crores.

Timeline

October 14, 2008 – Co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal start Flipkart with a capital of Rs 400,000

July 15, 2010 – Tiger Global joins with an investment of $10 million

June 16, 2011 – The company announces new logo and gets another investment of $20 million by Tiger Global

August 24, 2012 – Investment of $150 million by Tiger Global and Naspers group, crosses gross sales of Rs 100 crore

July 10, 2013 – Attracts investment of $200 million from Tiger Global, Naspers, Accel Partners and Iconiq Capital, crosses single-day shipment of 1.3 lakh

October 9, 2013 – Another investment of $160 million by Dragoneer Investment Group, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Sofina, Vulcan Capital and Tiger Global

May 26, 2014 – Flipkart acquires Myntra

July 29, 2014 – Attracted a whopping $1 billion from Tiger Global Management and Naspers


Just a day after Flipkart announced raising $1 billion, e-commerce giant Amazon, too, announced to invest an additional $2 billion in India to expand its growth in the country.