Flipkart Secures $1 Billion in Funding

The global e-commerce market just became a little more heated to say the least.

Flipkart, an Indian online marketplace founded in 2007, has now gained $1 billion in funding to take on its new and rising rivals, including global leaders Amazon that entered the Indian market last year and fellow Indian e-commerce site, Snapdeal.

Investors that contributed to the massive round include Naspers, GIC, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and Tiger Global Management.

It’s not only a sign of international faith in the company, but also a marker of the expectation of great technological and consumer advancement in the second most populous nation in the world.

The majority of transactions taking place in India are carried out in cash, but e-commerce and mobile commerce are slowly ticking up as financial institutions are making efforts to service the underbanked.

The new funding dwarfs Flipkart’s May investment round, where it had received $210 million dollars.

Unlike Amazon, Flipkart doesn’t sell direct-to-consumer, instead its business model is based on allowing third-party sellers to reach customers through its platform, and the company takes a fee on every sale.

Flipkart will use this money to snatch up engineers, expand its number of warehouses, and improve its mobile offerings, likely in anticipation of India’s growing smartphone and financial services adoption – all intersecting through mobile devices.