India is a better destination for tech IPOs: Binny Bansal to entrepreneurs

Binny Bansal also acknowledged that the quick commerce model is working well in India despite his scepticism

Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, whose e-commerce startup was acquired by US retail giant Walmart for $16 billion in 2018, has a piece of advice for entrepreneurs: “India is a better destination for tech IPOs, especially for Indian companies.”

His comments come at a time when an increasing number of startups are planning to move their domiciles to the country. Many Indian startups domiciled abroad in countries such as Singapore and the US are considering shifting their base or reverse-flipping to India. These include companies engaged in areas such as fintech, e-commerce, stock broking, healthcare, and edtech.

“My advice to founders today building from India, even if they're building a global company, is to incorporate here,” said Binny Bansal, during a media roundtable of South Park Commons (SPC), the Silicon Valley-based early-stage venture fund. “India is a great destination for tech IPOs. The capital markets are welcoming.”

Earlier this year, Binny Bansal officially exited the board of the Walmart-owned e-commerce firm Flipkart, which he founded along with Sachin Bansal 16 years ago. Sachin Bansal, the other co-founder, left the board in 2018. After leaving Flipkart, Sachin founded Navi, a financial services firm. In 2018, when US retail giant Walmart invested $16 billion for a majority stake in Flipkart, the Bengaluru-based firm was valued at less than $21 billion. This not only made the founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal billionaires but also provided blockbuster exits to the investors. The two Bansals are not related.

Now the demand for quick commerce is increasing, according to industry experts. The 15- to 20-minute delivery provided by quick-commerce players like Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart is taking a major portion of the sales of products away from players like Flipkart and Amazon. When asked how he sees this trend, Binny Bansal acknowledged that the quick commerce model is working well despite his scepticism.

“I give a lot of credit to the people who are making it work. I was also sceptical, but I think it seems to be working pretty well,” said Bansal. “There is innovation that is happening against big companies. There is Amazon and Flipkart and all of them were trying to do this. But some people figured out how to do it. This was possible as there is talent, ambition, market need, as well as ecosystem. If you look at Zepto, they were able to build a very strong team and execute well.”

When asked if the quick commerce model would succeed in India as it takes a lot of capital and there are issues related to unit economics and profitability, Bansal said that the segment is getting a lot of traction from the customers.

Binny Bansal recently also floated his new startup, OppDoor, to provide end-to-end solutions to e-commerce firms.