Flipkart to Swiggy: Valuations of top startups on path to recovery in 2024

The valuations of India’s top e-commerce and consumer internet companies have witnessed rises and falls in the past few years due to various factors, ranging from winter funding to macroeconomic uncertainty and business loss. After inflated valuations in 2022 and subsequent markdowns, the companies are on the path to recovery to keep their valuations realistic as they aim for profitability.

India experienced a slowdown in the first quarter of 2024, with $1.6 billion raised in funding after continuous growth in the previous three quarters of 2023. While these figures are lower compared to the same period in 2021 and 2022, India secured the fourth-highest position globally in terms of funding raised during this period, reflecting the resilience of its entrepreneurial landscape, according to a report by data platform Tracxn.

Flipkart has been leading as the most valuable e-commerce firm in the country.

Its valuation recently crossed $36 billion after closing a $1 billion funding round.

Google is investing nearly $350 million, while parent company Walmart invested $600 million as part of that financing.

Flipkart’s valuation had been adjusted to $33 billion after fintech firm PhonePe was separated from the group in December 2022.

In 2021, Flipkart raised $3.6 billion from investors including SoftBank and Walmart, valuing the company at $37.6 billion.

In 2017, the firm achieved a valuation of $10.1 billion after raising $1.4 billion in funding.

The valuation of the e-commerce firm reportedly declined to $35 billion as of January 31, 2024, from $40 billion in the financial year ended January 31, 2022, as per Walmart's change in equity structure in Flipkart.

In April, US-based investment firm Invesco increased Swiggy's valuation by 19 per cent to $12.7 billion ahead of the food delivery firm’s planned initial public offering (IPO).

This was the third consecutive time Invesco has raised Swiggy's valuation.

Previously, Invesco had increased Swiggy's valuation to $8.3 billion as of October 2023, following a series of cuts.

Last year, fintech firm PhonePe achieved a valuation of $12 billion.

This was due to the fundraising of up to $1 billion in capital, following its domicile shift to India in 2022.

PhonePe was valued at about $5.5 billion in December 2020 after raising $700 million in primary capital from existing Flipkart investors, including Tiger Global and Walmart.

Another fintech unicorn, Razorpay, raised $375 million in the Series F round of funding at a $7.5 billion valuation in 2021.

The company's valuation had surged over seven times in 15 months at that time.

Edtech giant Byju’s valuation has been on a decline with no sign of any increase.

Byju’s, once India’s most valuable startup, has seen a huge reversal in its fortunes. This happened after several setbacks, including purported mismanagement and accounting irregularities.

Valued at $22 billion in 2022, the startup’s valuation has since reduced 95 per cent after investors cut their stakes in multiple rounds.

Its valuation was most recently slashed to $1 billion.

Early this year, US-based investment management firm Vanguard adjusted the valuation of the mobility company Ola to $1.88 billion.

This represented the third markdown in the valuation of the firm led by Bhavish Aggarwal by Vanguard since February 2023.

Vanguard has revised Ola’s parent company, ANI Technologies, to $1.88 billion as of November 30, 2023.

This is a 29 per cent decrease from its previous fair value of $2.65 billion as of August 31 last year.

E-commerce firm Meesho recently closed a $275 million funding round through a mix of primary and secondary share sales.

This is part of a larger financing round of $600 million that the Bengaluru-based firm is raising.

Its valuation is expected to increase to $3.9 billion once the round closes.

In September 2021, Fidelity led a $570 million round in Meesho along with B Capital Group.

Following the fundraise, the company's valuation more than doubled to $4.9 billion.

Early this year, US-based Fidelity again cut the valuation of Meesho, valuing the e-commerce start-up at $3.5 billion.

This is a decline of about 29 per cent from the SoftBank-backed company’s peak valuation of $4.9 billion.

Early this year, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce company Udaan’s valuation fell about 43.5 per cent to around $1.75 billion in a down round (post-allotment of Series E round).

At its peak, the Bengaluru-based unicorn was valued at $3.1 billion in January 2021.

PharmEasy, the online pharmacy startup, recently secured $216 million in a funding round led by Ranjan Pai's Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) along with other existing investors.

A report by Entrackr indicates that the funding round was completed at a valuation haircut of around 90 per cent, valuing the company at $710 million.

Eyewear startup Lenskart is expecting an increase in its valuation in the next few weeks.

It is in talks to raise about $200 million from Singapore’s Temasek and US’ Fidelity at a valuation of about $5 billion, according to sources.

Lenskart’s secondary sale is taking place at an 11-12 per cent higher valuation than its previous valuation of $4.5 billion.

(Source: Analysis of industry reports and Tracxn data)