Binny Bansal may shift to S’pore for deeper role in start-up world
Feted for jump-starting India’s internet retail industry after co-founding the country’s most-valuable e-commerce giant Flipkart, Binny Bansal is moving base to Singapore, multiple people in the know said.
Since his unceremonious exit from Flipkart in November last year, Binny has kept away from the limelight and was said to be contemplating his next move. In this period, he has invested in insurance platform Acko, venture capital (VC) firm 021 Capital, and floated a new start-up called xto10x Technologies. “Binny now spends most of his time outside. He is in Singapore and travels to India often,” a source said. While reasons for his move are not immediately clear, sources said he would have a bird’s eye view of the latest technologies and start-ups, and a more intimate access to investors as well as financial markets from Singapore, the de facto financial nucleus of Southeast Asia.
On reaching out, a spokesperson for Binny Bansal said “at this point, Binny Bansal is scaling up the xto10x Technologies business, including overseas.”
In December, Binny started his second venture xto10x Technologies with former colleague Saikiran Krishnamurthy, who was the head of Flipkart logistics arm eKart between 2015 and 2017. According to its website, xto10x Technologies helps early-stage start-ups build capabilities across functions like strategy, finance, human resource management, and growth.
“I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my life. Person to person,
I can help 10 start-ups, but the ambition is to help 10,000 early- and mid-stage entrepreneurs, not 10,” Binny had told a wire agency in a February interview.
According to him, xto10x Technologies leverages technology and process-automation systems for founders to take on business operations seamlessly.
“One reason (for his move) is that he intends to play a larger role in the start-up ecosystem. He wants to increase his engagement in his recently floated venture xto10x Technologies, which will provide technology tools and a learning platform for start-ups all over the world to scale up,” said a source familiar with the development.
With Flipkart being registered in Singapore and many of its investors based there, Binny already has a strong network to start with. Even as he moves to Singapore, he will be frequently travelling to India, at least for work trips, sources clarified.
Binny has angel investments in over 40 start-ups, commitments to a handful of home-grown VC funds, and a 4 per cent stake and board seat in Flipkart.
Regarded as the poster boy for India’s start-up landscape, Binny, along with his Indian Institute of Technology batchmate Sachin Bansal, founded and grew Flipkart to be top start-up from India. In May last year, the founder agreed to sell 77 per cent of stake in the etailer to US major Walmart Inc. for $16 billion, in the biggest ecommerce deal anywhere in the world.
While Sachin sold his stake during the deal, Binny stayed on and was made the chairman of the board and group chief executive. But, a few months later, Walmart revealed an internal investigation that uncovered “serious personal misconduct” on his part that led to his resignation.
According to media reports in December, Binny may have secured $100 million as part of his severance package, and as per contract will make more in 2020 when Walmart will buy part of his 4-4.5 per cent stake in Flipkart, which will be worth $850 million at the time.
During and after Flipkart, Binny has been an active investor. He has stakes in an array of start-ups, including CureFit, GreyOrange, Ather Energy, Inshorts, and Creo, and VC funds pi Ventures, Blume Ventures, and India Quotient. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1 billion.