Bansal plays down valuation markdown

Bengaluru, June 29: Home grown e-commerce major Flipkart is not looking at any fresh round of funding in the immediate future and remained unperturbed on the valuation markdown in recent months terming it a cyclical phenomenon.

Interacting with mediapersons following a courtesy meeting with Karnataka industries minister RV Deshpande here on Wednesday, Flipkart chairman Sachin Bansal said, “We are well funded for along period of time and don't need to raise any money.”

Flipkart has cumulatively raised around $3.2 billion till now. The last round of funding came in July 2015 when it received $700 million. On the other hand, its nearest competitor, Amazon has announced a fresh investment of $3 billion in India. There have been reports that Flipkart has been looking to raise fresh funds from existing and new investors but could not agree on the valuation.

On the markdown in the valuation of Flipkart from $15.2 billion to $9.3 billion by few of its investors like Morgan Stanley,T Rowe Price, Bans al said ,“I do not think much of the markdowns. We should just focus on execution and keep our heads down on serving our customers.”

However, here marked that it was not just the case of Flip kart witnessing a markdown in valuation but a host of internet companies globally including Uber went through it. Though, he added that Uber despite the markdown was able to raise funds at a higher valuation than its previous round.

“The internet sector is also going through a little bit of downcycle, but as the positive cycle don't last forever even the downcycles don't last forever,” he said.

Flipkart had reported a gross merchandise value (GM V) of $4 billion for FY 15 and was eyeing to more than double this number for FY16, but indications are that it may not get close to this target.

Sachin Bansal took over as the chairman of Flipkart in January this year, following a management reshuffle which saw the co-founder Binny Bansal taking over the CEO position. This also witnessed certain realignment of roles within the e-commerce firm. Bansal said he was very much involved in the day-to-day activities of the company.