Indian e-commerce site raises $200M
India's largest e-commerce operator, FlipKart, says it has raised US$200 million in a bid to earn a gross market value of US$1 billion by 2015.
The six-year-old site announced the news in a statement Wednesday, adding that the funds came from its existing investors including South African media group Naspers, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Accel, and New York-based firm Tiger Global.
Co-founder and CEO Sachin Bansal said the investment will be used to develop new technologies and a more efficient supply chain. His brother Binny Bansal, co-founder and COO, said the company aimed to develop a highly scalable platform.
Accordign to FlipKart, the site has 9.6 million registered users and more than 1 million unique visitors every day. In June, it shipped almost 130,000 items a single day.
"Each round of funding has come at a strategic point during our growth," Binny said.
Indian tech news site, TechCircle, reported that FlipKart has raised over US$380 million to date including last year's US$150 million "series D" round, valuing the company at US$1 billion.
Amazon recently went head-to-head with FlipKart when it launched its retail website in India, where the U.S. company only fulfils orders for local merchants. Analysts had warned this move could provoke an e-commerce price war.