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This Amazon Rival Just Got $1.4 Billion From eBay, Microsoft, & Tencent
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On Monday, India’s popular e-commerce giant Flipkart just got a huge boost in its battle with Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) in its home country: $1.4 billion in new funding from Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , eBay (EBAY - Free Report) , and China’s Tencent (TCEHY - Free Report) . Flipkart is now valued at about $11.6 billion.
According to Crunchbase, Flipkart has now raised $4.65 billion from investors to date, and today’s funding round is the single largest for the Indian tech startup.
“This is a landmark deal for Flipkart and for India as it endorses our tech prowess, our innovative mindset and the potential we have to disrupt traditional markets. It is a resounding acknowledgement that the homegrown tech ecosystem is indeed thriving and succeeding in solving genuine problems in people’s daily lives across all of India,” Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal said in a statement.
In addition to financing, Flipkart also announced its acquisition of eBay India, which will remain a separate e-commerce website after the deal is complete. eBay India and Flipkart believe the merging of their businesses will offer customers "access to the wide array of global inventory on eBay, while eBay’s customers will have access to more unique Indian inventory provided by Flipkart sellers."
India’s online population is expected to reach between 450 million and 465 million by this June, notes TechCrunch, so it’s no surprise that many tech giants have been investing heavily in the country, cementing its status as one of the world’s fastest growing markets. Amazon especially has pumped billions of dollars into developing its e-commerce business in India, and that’s why Flipkart’s new funding round could really heat up the online retail battle in the country.
Alibaba (BABA - Free Report) , too, has invested in India’s e-commerce market, funding Paytm, a company that focuses on electronic payment wallets and a planned payments bank business; its e-wallet service has over 200 million clients in India.
For eBay, Microsoft, and Tencent, Flipkart is both a new and recurring chance to invest in India’s booming online culture. While eBay had its eBay India division, the company also previously invested in Snapdeal, another main Flipkart rival in India (though it sold off part of its stake back in 2015). And even though this marks Microsoft’s biggest deal in India so far, Flipkart currently uses its Azure cloud computing platform. This is Tencent’s largest Indian investment as well, and the Chinese giant has been on a buying spree lately, having recently backed electric car company Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) ; it also owns a considerable stake in Snap Inc. (SNAP - Free Report) .
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This Amazon Rival Just Got $1.4 Billion From eBay, Microsoft, & Tencent
On Monday, India’s popular e-commerce giant Flipkart just got a huge boost in its battle with Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) in its home country: $1.4 billion in new funding from Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , eBay (EBAY - Free Report) , and China’s Tencent (TCEHY - Free Report) . Flipkart is now valued at about $11.6 billion.
According to Crunchbase, Flipkart has now raised $4.65 billion from investors to date, and today’s funding round is the single largest for the Indian tech startup.
“This is a landmark deal for Flipkart and for India as it endorses our tech prowess, our innovative mindset and the potential we have to disrupt traditional markets. It is a resounding acknowledgement that the homegrown tech ecosystem is indeed thriving and succeeding in solving genuine problems in people’s daily lives across all of India,” Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal said in a statement.
In addition to financing, Flipkart also announced its acquisition of eBay India, which will remain a separate e-commerce website after the deal is complete. eBay India and Flipkart believe the merging of their businesses will offer customers "access to the wide array of global inventory on eBay, while eBay’s customers will have access to more unique Indian inventory provided by Flipkart sellers."
India’s online population is expected to reach between 450 million and 465 million by this June, notes TechCrunch, so it’s no surprise that many tech giants have been investing heavily in the country, cementing its status as one of the world’s fastest growing markets. Amazon especially has pumped billions of dollars into developing its e-commerce business in India, and that’s why Flipkart’s new funding round could really heat up the online retail battle in the country.
Alibaba (BABA - Free Report) , too, has invested in India’s e-commerce market, funding Paytm, a company that focuses on electronic payment wallets and a planned payments bank business; its e-wallet service has over 200 million clients in India.
For eBay, Microsoft, and Tencent, Flipkart is both a new and recurring chance to invest in India’s booming online culture. While eBay had its eBay India division, the company also previously invested in Snapdeal, another main Flipkart rival in India (though it sold off part of its stake back in 2015). And even though this marks Microsoft’s biggest deal in India so far, Flipkart currently uses its Azure cloud computing platform. This is Tencent’s largest Indian investment as well, and the Chinese giant has been on a buying spree lately, having recently backed electric car company Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) ; it also owns a considerable stake in Snap Inc. (SNAP - Free Report) .
Zacks’ Hidden Trades
While we share many recommendations and ideas with the public, certain moves are hidden from everyone but chosen members of our portfolio services. Would you like to peek behind the curtain today and view them?
Starting today, and for the next month, you can follow all Zacks’ private buys and sells in real time. Our experts cover all kinds of trades: value, momentum, ETFs, stocks under $10, stocks that corporate insiders are buying up, and companies that are about to report positive earnings surprises. You can even look inside portfolios so exclusive that they are normally closed to new investors. Click here for Zacks’ secret trades>>