Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce startup owned by Walmart, which fights closely with Amazon in the South Asian market, is preparing to send its headquarters back from Singapore to India as it prepares to file its IPO on the Indian stock exchange.
Flipkart said on Monday that the move “represents natural evolution and aligns the retention structure with the core operation and the great potential of the Indian economy.”
The e-commerce giant, which started operations in Bengaluru in 2007, moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2011, attracting more foreign investments, benefiting from tax benefits, and better navigating India’s bureaucratic hurdles and political agendas.
“As a company born and nurturing in India, this transition will further increase the focus and agility to serve our customers, sellers, partners and communities, and continue to contribute to the country’s growing digital economy and entrepreneurship,” a spokesman for Flipkart said in a statement.
Relocations are subject to required approvals without disclosing a specific timeline, the startup says. However, Flipkart plans to apply for an IPO within the country within the next year.
In 2022, Walmart-backed Phonepe, which split from Flipkart in the second half of 2022, moved its headquarters from Singapore to India. Several other startups, including Zepto and Groww, have moved their headquarters to India in recent months as they are seeking public listings of Indian stock exchanges.
However, India’s current open market environment has not been appealing until late last year. This is because the market has undergone several revisions and is affected by macro conditions. According to a report by Goldman Sachs, the IPO reached around $70 billion in India’s stock trading volume last year, up from about $70 billion.
Nevertheless, investors are optimistic about the growth potential of the Indian market. This is because several companies are waiting to be released this year and next year.
“The supportive assessment environment spurred the publisher’s activities. Many unicorns who were thinking of publishing it in the US thought they switched to India because they felt that India was in favor of a better assessment.”
The latest move by Flipkart comes almost a year after raising $350 million from Google as part of the nearly $1 billion funding round that kicked off in 2023. The startup was valued at $36 billion in its last investment.
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