Flipkart denies $100mn stake sold by 2nd largest investor Accel

A report has be doing the rounds, that Flipkart’s 2nd largest shareholder, Accel Partners had sold off a stake worth $100 million in the online marketplace to Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).

A Flipkart spokeperson has now categorically denied the report, by stating in an email to Reuters that the news of Venture Captial firm, Accel Partners selling a stake is false.

“This information is incorrect. There has been no such transaction”, stated the email from Flipkart to Reuters.

Subrata Mitra, a partner of Accel Partners, India, spoke with similar sentiments in an email to the newspaper.

“From time to time, Accel Partners, globally, has sold a small fraction of our holdings in some of our portfolio companies, as secondary transactions…All we can confirm to you right now is that no such transaction is in process.”

Flipkart going strong

Accel first invested $1 million in Flipkart way back in 2009 and has since pumped in millions over the years, in the various rounds of funding. Flipkart received major funding last year and that confidence from investors has continued through to this year. Talk of Flipkart’s IPO has not materialised, although it is still in the pipeline. Very recently Flipkart’s largest shareholder, Tiger Global invested heavily in rivals Amazon which caused much intrigue. In September, Flipkart confirmed its valuation to be $15.2 billion, which was unusual for an online marketplace, who usually talk in terms of Gross Merchandise Value.

Flipkart info available on Accel website:

• Has more than 30 million products available across 70+ categories

• Serves 50 million customers annually

• Has 33,000 employees

• Has raised more than $3.2 billion in funding

For more detailed insights on Flipkart in 2015 check out this study released by India’s ecommerce leader.