Author: Thomas Crown

Walmart has opened up on the thinking behind its $15 billion majority investment in Flipkart, and perhaps the most interesting facet is that the retailer plans to export ideas from the Indian e-commerce firm to the rest of its global business, including the U.S..

Walmart’s decision to follow Amazon into India is a testament to huge potential growth in the market. Internet penetration is tipped to cross 500 million this year and a rising middle-class emerging, all of which led Walmart CEO Doug McMillon to describe the deal as “a unique opportunity in a market with significant long-term growth prospects” — but the aspirations run further.

“At Walmart, we’re learning how to build — and how to partner to build — retail ecosystems around the world. India will now become a key center of learning for our entire company,” he said on a call with analysts following the announcement of the deal.

McMillon credited Flipkart for more than just an e-commerce business.

The company’s verticals span electronics, fashion and more, but Flipkart’s management team consistently returned to other services including its mobile payment arm, supply chain business than does 500,000 deliveries daily and more. They also dropped a hint at the potential to do groceries in the future, for one.

That “ecosystem” play is something that is quite unique to Asia, particularly in China, and it is an area where Walmart believes it can glean operational intelligence and potential strategy for other markets, including the U.S..

“Not only is [Flipkart] innovative [with the] problem-solving culture that they have, but they are doing some great work both in the AI space, how they are using data across their platforms but particularly in terms of the payment platform that they’ve created through PhonePe,” Judith McKenna, Walmart COO, said on the call.

“All of those things we can learn from for the future and see how we can leverage those around the international markets and potentially into the US as well,” McKenna added.

That admission is notable, and it stands to reason that Walmart — a traditional offline retailer — might seek to lean on Flipkart’s technical expertise to build out its online or tech-enabled businesses elsewhere in the world, particularly with Amazon entering offline via its Whole Foods deal. That helps bring more immediate returns since, as Walmart’s executives admitted, Flipkart isn’t likely to turn a profit any time soon since it is focused on chasing scale in India.

There’s also some synergy with Walmart’s other recent star acquisition.

McKenna added that Marc Lore, the founder of Jet.com which Walmart acquired last year for $3 billion, had been involved in scouting out Walmart during due diligence. She added that, for now, he wouldn’t be a part of the Flipkart business.

“Maybe someday we might involve him, but right now there’s plenty to do in the U.S. business and that’s what he’s focused on,” McKenna concluded.

Walmart already has an international business — which includes a physical retail footprint in India — but McKenna said the management team is “very interested” in the potential to expand Flipkart outside of India to growth that global presence, presumably using many of the aforementioned learnings taken from the Indian market.

“[International expansion] aligns with the [Flipkart] management team’s ambitions, it aligns with an operating model that we [at Walmart] are comfortable with working with. There’s no timeframe on that but it’s something that for the future we are considering,” she added.

The expansion makes sense since Walmart has spent the last couple of years regrouping its global efforts. It exited China in 2016 — instead opting for a partnership with e-commerce giant JD.com — and this month it retreated from the UK after selling its Asda business to rival high-street retailer Sainsbury’s. Perhaps its time to examine upcoming markets worldwide? In which case the $16 billion Flipkart deal begins to seem a lot more strategic.

from TechCrunch

The rumors are true: Walmart has bought a controlling stake in India’s Flipkart. This isn’t a straight-up acquisition, however, because, rather than going it alone, the U.S. retailer is enlisting strategic allies as it takes its fight to Amazon in a new region.

Walmart has an existing offline retail business in India, but enter the online space puts it up against Amazon, which has made massive strides since entering India in 2012.

That perhaps calls for something special, which is one reason why Walmart is buying just 77 percent of Flipkart and leaving space for others with expertise to come join.

Walmart confirmed that “some” existing investors will retain their stakes, including Tencent — the $500 billion Chinese giant — and Tiger Global, both of which have board sets, and Microsoft, which was part of a $1.4 billion investment last year. Added to that, Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has committed to stay retain his shares, although there’s no word on fellow co-founder Sachin Bansal who had been tipped to move on.

Beyond those three strategic Flipkart backers, Walmart said it is in ongoing discussions with “with additional potential investors who may join the round.”

Google is one who has been linked with a deal but you can imagine that Walmart — very much a physical retail specialist — will be looking to tap the world of tech and Asian partners to help gain an advantage over Amazon, which is broadly thought to have closed the gap on Flipkart in recent years.

Walmart is indicating that the new backers will buy a part of its equity if they invest, but it said it will “retain clear majority ownership” regardless of who joins.

“One of the things that was important to us here was having partners alongside us as well. So having Tencent, Microsoft and Tiger Global who are already investors in this business is really powerful in terms of the model that we’re creating,” Judith McKenna, Walmart COO, said on a call with investors following today’s announcement.

“[Flipkart] will be run through an independent board who will have some Walmart representation. We think that structure will best keep the entrepreneurial side of this business and guide it strategically, too,” McKenna added.

Walmart declined to give a timeline on when it might have news about the prospective investors.

Despite that, a number of investors have exited entirely with impressive returns, including SoftBank — which sunk a then-Indian record investment into Flipkart via its Vision Fund last year — Naspers and eBay.

In the more immediate future, Walmart is putting $2 billion of fresh capital into the business which Flipkart will be able to spend on growth and existing strategies.

Interestingly, too, Walmart is open to allowing Flipkart to IPO as a listed subsidiary in the future. That would help maintain incentives for employees and fulfill the ambition of management, McKenna said.

from TechCrunch

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has finally confirmed that it is making a $16 billion investment into Flipkart for a 77 percent share of the online retailer. Tencent, Tiger Global, Microsoft and Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal will continue to be investors in the company with this deal. The investment will value Flipkart — India’s biggest online retailer with 54 million active customers and projected gross merchandise value of $7.5 billion for 2018 — at $20.8 billion when the deal closes. That close is expected to happen later this year after getting regulatory approval.

The investment in Flipkart becomes the biggest-ever that Walmart has made in its history, supplanting Asda in the UK (which it last week partially divested). Walmart said that it intends to keep Flipkart as a distinctive brand and even help usher the company towards a “publicly-listed, majority-owned subsidiary” in the future. Right now Flipkart operates at a loss as it pursues growth.

Flipkart will give Walmart a big step up in its business in Asia by helping it better tap the region’s second-largest market after China, and one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Walmart India already has 21 Best Price cash-and-carry stores and one fulfillment center in 19 cities across nine states in India, and it said that more than 95 percent of sourcing coming from India. Walmart said that Krish Iyer, president and chief executive officer of Walmart India, will continue to lead that business. The bigger company has been divesting of some of its international operations at the same time that it is beefing up in India. Most recently, it announced a sale of a majority ownership of Asda in the UK to Sainsbury’s.

It will also give Walmart an advance in its wider e-commerce ambitions, which it has been pursuing at an aggressive pace in a bid to rival the e-commerce Amazon — which not only has been moving into Walmart’s brick-and-mortar territory, but has put a lot of investment specifically into growing its business in India.

“India is one of the most attractive retail markets in the world, given its size and growth rate, and our investment is an opportunity to partner with the company that is leading transformation of eCommerce in the market,” said Doug McMillon, Walmart’s president and chief executive officer in a statement. “As a company, we are transforming globally to meet and exceed the needs of customers and we look forward to working with Flipkart to grow in this critical market. We are also excited to be doing this with Tencent, Tiger Global and Microsoft, which will be key strategic and technology partners. We are confident this group will provide Flipkart with enhanced strategic and competitive advantage. Our investment will benefit India providing quality, affordable goods for customers, while creating new skilled jobs and fresh opportunities for small suppliers, farmers and women entrepreneurs.”

Walmart’s stake — provided it gets regulatory approval — sets up an interesting scenario in India, where now the two biggest e-commerce (and overall?) retailers will be controlled by US companies, something we predicted could happen. The competitive implications for smaller, homegrown startups will be tough, and it will be worth watching how (and if) local regulators respond to that state of affairs.

One detail that might affect that is how Walmart opens the investment to other parties: the company noted in its announcement that “Walmart and Flipkart are also in discussions with additional potential investors who may join the round, which could result in Walmart’s investment stake moving lower after the transaction is complete.” Regardless, Walmart said that it will keep “clear majority ownership.”

Tencent and Tiger Global will keep their seats on the Flipkart board, with new members from Walmart. “The final make-up of the board has yet to be determined, but it will also include independent members,” Walmart said. “The board will work to maintain Flipkart’s core values and entrepreneurial spirit, while ensuring it has strategic and competitive advantages.”

The deal comes after many months of speculation about a tie-up between Flipkart and Walmart, which reached a fever pitch this morning when Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son accidentally let the news of the finalised deal slip out in an investor presentation. He termed it an “acquisition” and sure enough, Softbank is selling its stake in the transaction, so it has exited the investment, one of its biggest in India to date.

Walmart’s stake in Flipkart also sets up India as the latest battleground between the retailer and Amazon. Amazon also had been rumored to be interested in taking a stake in Flipkart as recently as last week. Amazon has already invested billions into its operations in India — a move that had already heightened competition, impacted e-commerce operators’ margins, and had directly impacted Flipkart’s prospects (a 2017 investment was made as a “downround” for example).

This should see a huge infusion of investment into the operations, with Flipkart getting an extra boost from Walmart’s immense purchasing power and logistics muscle. Walmart said that its investment includes $2 billion of new equity funding that will go towards that growth.

“This investment is of immense importance for India and will help fuel our ambition to deepen our connection with buyers and sellers and to create the next wave of retail in India,” said Binny Bansal, Flipkart’s co-founder and group chief executive officer. “While eCommerce is still a relatively small part of retail in India, we see great potential to grow. Walmart is the ideal partner for the next phase of our journey, and we look forward to working together in the years ahead to bring our strengths and learnings in retail and eCommerce to the fore.”

from TechCrunch

Trussle, the U.K. online mortgage broker that competes most directly with Atomico-backed Habito, has closed £13.6 million in Series B funding.

Notably, the round is led by Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments — a division of Goldman Sachs — and Propel Venture Partners, a fund backed by European banking giant BBVA.

In addition, a number of other investors also participated including Finch Capital, which led Trussle’s Series A fund raise, and Seedcamp, which has backed the fintech startup from the get-go.

Launched in 2016, Trussle moves the entire mortgage process online, bringing with it much-needed transparency. One aspect to this — powered by the data it amassing and machine learning — is making it infinitely easier to ‘switch’ mortgage when a better deal or lower interest rate becomes available. The same technology-driven approach is used for those looking to find and apply for a new or first time mortgage.

In a brief call this morning, Trussle co-founder and CEO Ishaan Malhi told me that the new capital will be used to further scale up the company, noting that the Trussle team has grown from 14 to 70 people since its Series A in February 2017. A significant portion of these are in product development as the fintech startup moves from what Malhi describes as a transactional proposition — where customers use Trussle at the point of taking out a mortgage — to a “lifetime proposition” that supports customers when they first start thinking about owning their own home and then throughout their financed home ownership.

As an example of this, he pointed me towards Trussle’s mortgage monitoring service, which launched last year. It constantly monitors the market and alerts you when money can be saved by switching to another deal.

However, the longer term vision — and presumably part of what attracted investors — is to return more value based on the data Trussle captures. This could include telling you when it may be advantageous to overpay and giving you an easy to understand dashboard that clearly shows where you are at in the repayment process.

More broadly, Trussle wants to play a major role and making home ownership a reality for many for whom is it increasingly prohibitive (think: Generation Rent). To do this, he doesn’t rule out partnerships with other fintech startups aligned to that same mission.

Adds Malhi in a statement: “The backing from two prolific and globally renowned fintech investors recognises the brilliant progress we’ve made, but also the scale of our ambition. The funding will enable us to invest significantly in building our brand and our product, but fundamentally will accelerate us towards our vision of digitising the end-to-end journey to make home ownership more affordable and accessible to all”.

from TechCrunch

Here’s one way to make sure Amazon doesn’t get control of Flipkart in India by outbidding you for a majority stake: buy it outright. Today during SoftBank’s earnings presentation, it looks like CEO Masayoshi Son slipped in a little scoop: he announced that Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, on Tuesday night reached a deal to buy Flipkart, the leading e-commerce retailer in India, outright, putting an end to months of speculation. SoftBank is currently one of Flipkart’s biggest investors.

“Walmart is purchasing Flipkart,” Son said in the presentation (he spoke in Japanese with a translation provided over the video by a SoftBank translator). “Last night there was the official announcement.”

Very soon after, there was a quick and slightly messy recovery: a second gentleman approached Son during the Q&A section of his presentation and slipped him a note, after which point the CEO read it, and then said an announcement had not yet been confirmed.

“With regards to Flipkart, it’s not officially announced yet,” he said with a weak smile. “Maybe I should not have mentioned that … Well, I can’t take it out!”

“Not yet announced” is also the line that SoftBank spokespeople are also taking, and we have yet to hear back from Flipkart and Walmart with their comments. Yet could come very soon, though: we’ve been told by a source that the official news will be released at 5pm India time.

If Mon’s first statement was accurate, Walmart’s acquisition would end a long-running saga.  For months now, there have been rumors that the world’s largest retailer was gearing up to acquire a sizeable stake in the Indian company to get its foot into India — with reports putting the size of the stake at anywhere between 51 percent and around 70 percent, and at a value of between $15 billion and $20 billion, with additional investors potentially including Google.

But in the last week, alternative reports started to emerge that Amazon would try to gazump Walmart and take a pole position as a shareholder.

Walmart and Amazon have been hotly competing against each other in other markets, specifically the US — where Amazon dominates in online sales but Walmart continues to lead the charge in brick-and-mortar, despite many aggressive moves from Amazon, such as its acquisition of Whole Foods.

Meanwhile, India — Asia’s second-largest economy after China and one of the world’s fastest-growing markets — has become a key market for Amazon over the last several years, with billions already ploughed into the country and billions more earmarked for future investment, and so when it appeared that Walmart was also going to try to muscle in by taking a stake in the country’s largest homegrown online retailer, Flipkart became the latest battleground between the two U.S. giants.

Walmart clearly was not ready to give up. As we pointed out last week, Walmart divesting its stake in Asda in the UK to Sainsbury’s would pave the way for the company to make a bigger move in India, and that seems to be what has happened here.

Flipkart has raised around $7.3 billion in funding since being founded in 2007, with other investors including Microsoft, eBay, Naspers, Tencent, Tiger Global, Accel and many more, and it has been a consolidator of sorts itself, buying eBay India last year. But although it is the country’s biggest online retailer, it has had a rocky time in terms of its valuation, which at one point was over $15 billion but dipped to $11.6 billion in its last round in 2017, in part because of fierce competition from Amazon, Snapdeal and more.

Interestingly, we should point out that this is not the first time that Son has “announced” an India-based tech deal ahead of time.

Two years ago during another quarterly presentation, the SoftBank boss let slip that OYO — the hotel aggregator service that counts SoftBank as an investor — had acquired rival Zo Rooms, a deal that had been much-speculated in India at the time.

Despite his reveal, the OYO-Zo deal actually never happened. In fact, the two were at loggerheads and even went to court as the relationship soured following the breakdown of the proposed deal.

The scale of the Flipkart-Walmart tie-up is many orders of magnitude higher, with Flipkart’s India’s highest-valued startup and a poster child for the tech industry. Let’s hope Mr. Son got it right this time.

from TechCrunch

Tame, a self-proclaimed “design-driven” tech startup from Copenhagen in Denmark, is on a mission to “solve the chaos of event planning”. The company’s founders, who claim to have previously organised more than thirty large conferences and events, think they have spotted a gap in the market for an all-in-one event planning tool designed specifically to be used by teams.

Like a Swiss Army Knife for event production, the SaaS spans an array of organisational features, such as event program building, an easy way to store the contact details and current status of speakers, and a place to manage suppliers, sponsors and exhibitors. In addition, Tame supports team collaboration in the form of shared file storage, notes, tasks, and messaging.

“Tame is built as a collaborative event planning tool, enabling your entire organisation to plan and streamline all your events from start to finish,” says Tame co-founder Jasenko Hadzic. “With Tame you can stay on top of every event with a complete 360 real-time overview and collaborate with your team and external partners.

Furthermore, Tame includes its own ticketing features that allows event managers to quickly publish programs, speakers, and sponsors “on a beautifully constructed ticketing page, that can be customised to fit every organisation”. The software plays nicely with the wider event ecosystem, too, with an API that enables Tame to integrate with other event technologies currently on the market, thus letting the startup focus solely on “solving the planning of the event,” says Hadzic.

“Tame’s solution replaces tasks currently done in spreadsheets and is the first of its kind customisable enough to consolidate all of your internal event planning in one place and empower your entire team with real-time collaboration,” he adds.

Last month saw the company launch more publicly, opening up the SaaS to self sign-up so that event teams can hit the road running. “As events are stressful, we’ve focused a lot of on building a simple UI that would allow event teams all over the world to get going easily and onboard themselves. Event teams have to get going smoothly and they can’t afford to make mistakes. We know that, so we’ve allowed them to get going very fast,” says Hadzic.

Tame is operating a freemium model: it costs nothing to use for free events but there’s a fixed fee of €1 per paid ticket, which the event organiser can either absorb or transfer to the attendee. “We are all in on transparency, so therefore we don’t offer a percentage fee of the ticket price like many other ticketing solutions out there. In the future, we will offer a premium version of our platform for a fixed monthly subscription fee and this will be our primary business model”.

Meanwhile, the company is also disclosing a seed round of $550,000 from a number of well-known Nordic angel investors with a proven track record in SaaS and product design. They include Tommy Andersen (co-founder and Managing Partner of ByFounders), Hampus Jakobsson (Venture Partner at BlueYard Capital and co-founder of TAT, which sold to Blackberry for $150m), Jacob Wandt (founder of e-conomic, which sold to HG Capital in 2013 for $100m+), Anders Pollas (co-founder and ex-CPO of Podio, the project management tool sold to Citrix for €50 million), and Gregers Kronborg (ex-General Partner of Northzone).

from TechCrunch

U.S. job hunting service Glassdoor, which is best known for providing insight into company working cultures, has been acquired for $1.2 billion in cash by Recruit, a $39 billion Japanese corporate that specialises in HR and recruitment services.

Glassdoor raised a total of just over $200 million from investors, with its most recent round a $40 million Series H in March 2016. That last investment gave Glassdoor a valuation of around $1 billion. That’s not a huge amount more than what Recruit is paying, which suggests that the last couple of years haven’t been so spectacular for Glassdoor in terms of growth.

Nonetheless, this deal looks like a win for those backers, particularly the earlier stage investors such as Benchmark and Battery Ventures .

Ten-year-old Glassdoor says it is used by 59 million people each month, many of whom come to the service to read about how companies are rated by the people who work, or worked there. While it is headquartered in the U.S., Glassdoor says it has information on more than 770,000 companies across 190 countries worldwide, including 40 million reviews covering company culture, CEO ratings, salary information and more.

Glassdoor’s revenue comes from recruitment services, and it claims to work with some 7,000 employees and 40 percent of the Fortune 500.

Recruit may not be a well-known name in the U.S. but the Japanese firm is huge, and it is history as a purchaser of overseas businesses.

The firm — which was founded in 1960 — is listed on the Toyko Stock Exchange and it has 45,000 employees across 60 countries.

Beyond recruitment and HR services, it also operates in real estates, travel, dining and other segments. That’s reflected in its past acquisitions, which have included U.S. job sites Indeed.com (2012), Simply Hired (2016) and, in Europe, restaurant site Quandoo (2015), hair and beauty service Wahanda (2015) and education technology company Quipper (2015).

from TechCrunch