New Delhi. Tech giant Google has proposed to invest about $350 million (about Rs 2,900 crore) to buy a small stake in e-commerce company Flipkart in the latest funding round. The Walmart group company gave this information on Friday. According to sources, Flipkart is raising one billion dollars in the current round of funding and has received a commitment of $600 million from its parent company and American retail giant Walmart.
Flipkart said in a statement, “Flipkart announced the addition of Google as a minority investor as part of a new round of funding led by Walmart. This move will be subject to regulatory and other procedural approvals from both parties.” Flipkart said, “Google’s proposed investment and its cloud support will help Flipkart expand its business and further modernize its digital infrastructure to serve customers across the country.” However, Flipkart did not give any details of the proposed amount to be invested by Google. But according to sources, this figure could be $ 350 million.
A source said the transaction is expected in the current financing round based on Flipkart’s valuation being around US$35 billion. Flipkart’s valuation as of January 31, 2024 was US$35 billion based on the equity transaction made by US-based Walmart. Walmart had increased its stake in Flipkart by 10 per cent to around 85 per cent by paying $3.5 billion in FY 2023-24.
Google and Walmart did not immediately respond to emails seeking financial details of investment commitments in the current funding round, while Flipkart declined to comment. Flipkart reported a net loss of Rs 4,846 crore and consolidated net income of Rs 56,012.8 crore in FY23 while its expenses were Rs 60,858 crore.