Flipkart ups IPO valuation goal to $60 bn as Covid spurs e-commerce biz

The firm now aims for a US listing in 2023 instead of this year, say sources. This would be the biggest consumer tech IPO in India

Walmart-owned e-commerce company Flipkart has internally raised its IPO (initial public offering)  valuation target to about $60 billion and now aims for a US listing in 2023 instead of this year, according to the people familiar with the company’s IPO plans. This would be the biggest IPO in the consumer tech space in India.

The company which counts Amazon, Reliance’s JioMart and Tata among its rivals to tap the booming e-commerce market in India had earlier set an IPO valuation goal of $50 billion. The firm is eyeing a new target, because the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to e-commerce, and more consumers are shopping online at a higher frequency on the Flipkart platform. The online retail market in India is expected to reach $350 billion by 2030 from $45-50 billion now.

“Since the fundraise last year, the business at Flipkart has been growing 50 per cent year-over-year due to Covid-19 tailwinds and massive expansion of digitisation among sellers and consumers,” said a person with knowledge about Flipkart’s IPO plans. “There are internal discussions in the company about raising the IPO valuation target from $50 billion to $60 billion and going public by next year.”

The news about Flipkart internally raising its IPO valuation target was first reported by Reuters.

Last year, Flipkart Group carved a niche for itself in the global league by raising $3.6 billion, including from SoftBank, which had exited the firm, valuing the company at $37.6 billion, which was more than a 50 per cent rise in a year.

Last year in November, e-commerce firms such as Flipkart, Amazon, and others witnessed blockbuster festive season sales of about $9.2 billion year surpassing the pre-pandemic sales of $5 billion witnessed during the festive month in 2019. As has been the case for the last five years or so, online festive sales in India continued to grow at a blistering pace and saw a 23 per cent year-over-year growth in GMV, according to consulting firm RedSeer. In 2020, India’s online festive sale for a month — during October-November — raked in $8.3 billion in gross sales, including for brands and sellers, according to analysts. Last year, RedSeer claimed that the Flipkart Group emerged as the leader during the festive sales with an impressive 62 per cent market share.

With more than 350 million registered users in the country, Flipkart has been investing in key categories, including fashion, travel and grocery. These categories are playing a key role in its growth.

Flipkart entered the healthcare sector with the launch of Flipkart Health+ last November. As part of this development, the group signed agreements to acquire a majority share in Sastasundar Marketplace Ltd which owns and runs SastaSundar.com, an online pharmacy and digital healthcare platform.

This week Flipkart Health+, launched Flipkart Health+ app, a tech platform that enables access to genuine medicines and healthcare products and services for millions of customers across the country. With an aim to serve customers across 20,000 pin codes in India, Flipkart Health+ will enable easy and convenient access to quality and affordable medicines and healthcare products, from independent sellers, through the Flipkart Health+ app. Last year Flipkart also acquired Cleartrip, as the company further enhanced its investments to strengthen its digital commerce offerings for customers.