SoftBank Vision Fund, the $100-billion technology-focused fund floated by Masayoshi Son, has invested an undisclosed but significant amount in India’s largest e-commerce marketplace Flipkart, making it one of the largest investors in the company.
The investment is part of the same round that saw — Tencent, eBay and Microsoft — invest $1.4 billion in April and will be made at the same $11.6 billion valuation. Flipkart claims that with the investment from SoftBank Vision Fund, it will have $4 billion of cash on balance sheet.
“India is a land of vast opportunity. We want to support innovative companies that are clear winners in India because they are best positioned to leverage technology and help people lead better lives. As the pioneers in Indian e-commerce, Flipkart is doing that every day,” said Masayoshi Son, founder and chairman & chief executive officer of SoftBank Group.
The investment was partly used to buy shares of an existing investor Tiger Global and additional capital in the company. Flipkart will utilise its $4-billion war chest to take on global rival Amazon, which has significantly stepped up its investment in India ($750 million) that was disclosed during the start of 2017.
“This is a monumental deal for Flipkart and India. Very few economies globally attract such overwhelming interest from top-tier investors. It is the recognition of India’s unparalleled potential to become a leader in technology and e-commerce on a massive scale,” said Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, founders of Flipkart, in a joint statement.
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