India's e-tailer Flipkart crossed the 100-million registered users mark, becoming the first e-commerce company in the country to hit the milestone. Its investors include Tiger Global, Naspers, Accel Partners, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, T Rowe, and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. The Bangalore-based company doubled its user base over the...
Wal-Mart May Join Forces with India's Flipkart
The Hindu reports that Wal-Mart Stores Inc is negotiating a minority stake in Flipkart, the e-commerce retailer in India, in which it is looking to invest between $750 million and $1 billion. Flipkart has been valued at about $11.5 billion, media reported last month, citing a U.S. regulatory filing from...
Amazon India, and Flipkart Beat a New Path to Customers’ Doors
New rules for e-commerce in India framed by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion bar any one merchant on sites such as Amazon, Flipkart or Snapdeal from accounting for 25 percent or more of total sales. The rules also stipulate that "e-commerce entities providing marketplace will not directly or...
E-commerce Startup ShopClues, India, Valued at $1 Billion
A Series E funding by Nexus Partners, Tiger Global and GIC, the Singapore government’s sovereign wealth fund, has raised the valuation of the e-commerce company ShopClues to $1.1 billion. Headquartered in Gurgaon, India, the company was founded in California's Silicon Valley in 2011. This new "unicorn valuation" puts ShopClues in...
Government Infrastructure in Rural Areas to Boost E-Commerce in India
A strategic component of the India's National eGovernance Plan consists of setting up Common Services Centers (CSCs). These centers are ICT enabled front end service delivery points at the village level for the delivery of government, financial, social and private sector services in the areas of agriculture, health, education, entertainment,...
India: Next Hot Stop for Smartphone Makers
“India presents the world's largest smartphone growth potential for the next 5 years,” Mark Li, senior analyst at Bernstein Research said in a report titled India: The Next China for Smartphones? India is the world's third largest smartphone market behind China. In the next 5 years it is projected to...