10 years of Flipkart – A Timeline of Milestones

How much can you pack into a ten-year timeline? A lot, and more, if you’re Flipkart.

In 2017, Flipkart celebrates a decade of fulfilling the wishes of online retail customers in India, and solving for India’s dynamic e-commerce ecosystem. Since starting up in 2007 from a two-bedroom apartment in Koramangala, Bengaluru, Flipkart’s founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal have built an e-commerce bellwether that has held the torch aloft for a generation of Indian startups. Each year, Flipkart has solved complex problems in Indian e-commerce with path-breaking technology innovation aimed at empowering online shoppers in India. Strengthening its leadership position with every milestone achieved, Flipkart has built what is today arguably India’s most exciting company to work for.

On April 10, 2017, Flipkart announced that it had received an investment of $1.4 billion, the highest in its ten-year history as well as in India’s internet sector. Read the story here.

Flip back the years with this timeline of Flipkart milestones.

2007 | The Flipkart story begins in a Bengaluru apartment

On September 15, 2007, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, who met in 2005 at IIT-Delhi, launch an internet business called Flipkart. The online bookstore promises to deliver anywhere in India. Within weeks, the first customer, a young bookworm from Mahbubnagar, places an order. Amid high drama, Sachin and Binny pull off the delivery. After 20 shipments that year, Flipkart is in business.

2008 | Building blocks – Putting the Indian customer first

• Flipkart’s first office opens in Bengaluru at PIN code 560034
• 24×7 customer service launched
• Over 3,400 shipments delivered

2009 | First employee, first funding, first pre-order

• Flipkart hires its first full-time employee. Ambur Iyyappa, a veritable Human ERP, would go on to become a dollar millionaire
• In September, Accel Partners invests $1 million in Flipkart
• Opens offices in Delhi and Mumbai
• First book opens for pre-orders – Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol 
• Headcount leaps to 150

2010 | Cash-on-Delivery and Ekart win over the Indian consumer

• Pioneers Cash-on-Delivery payment mode
• Launches logistics arm Ekart, led by fresher Vinoth Poovalingam
• Introduces 30-day return policy
• Acquires social book recommendation portal WeRead
• Expands categories to include Music, Movies, Games, Electronics and Mobiles

2011 | Expanding the delivery network

• Launches digital wallet
• Expands shopping categories to include Cameras, Computers, Laptops, Large Appliances, Health, Personal Care, Stationery
• Acquires Chakpak and Mime360
• Launches 30-day replacement policy
• Delivers to over 600 cities in India

2012 | The Flipkart mobile app brings shopping to every Indian’s fingertips

• Launches mobile shopping app
• Acquires electronics e-tailer Letsbuy
• Receives PCI DSS Certification, allowing customers access to ‘Saved Cards’ feature
• Launches Fashion, Perfumes, Watches, Menswear, Toys, Posters, Baby Care
• Launches electronics private label DigiFlip
• Launches Flyte MP3 for online music sales

2013 | The rise of the marketplace

• Introduces Next Day Shipping Guarantee
• Raises $160 million in funding
• Adopts marketplace model, opening up platform to sellers
• Sells 1,00,000 books in a single day
• Launches PayZippy, an online payments solution for merchants and customers
• Launches Women’s Lifestyle category
• Begins accepting international cards for transactions
• Recruits a record 118 candidates from IIT campuses

2014 | Myntra joins the family, Big Billion Day is born

• Becomes the first Indian internet retailer to register $1.9bn gross merchandise value (GMV)
• Acquires fashion e-tailer Myntra
• Acquires majority stake in Jeeves and ngpay
• Launches Flipkart First and In-a-Day Guarantee
• Launches Scheduled Delivery
• Begins exclusive associations, starting with Moto and Xiaomi
• Kicks off India’s largest online sale — Big Billion Day — in October
• Introduces Same Day Delivery Guarantee

2015 — Progressive maternity, paternity and adoption policies make Flipkart a great place to work

• Launches Home and Maternity categories
• Acquires AdIquity and AppIterate
• Launches Ad Platform and Strategic Brands Group
• Brand Refresh – unveils the new Flipkart logo
• Acquires payment services firm FX Mart
• Launches Flipkart Lite
• Launches progressive maternity and paternity policies for employees and introduces an adoption policy

2016 – Flipkart crosses 100 million registered users

• Binny Bansal takes over as CEO. Sachin Bansal becomes Executive Chairman
• First Indian mobile app to cross 50 million users
• Crosses the milestone of 100 million registered customers
• Launches No Cost EMI
• April 2016 – Sachin Bansal & Binny Bansal named among Time 100 list of most influential people by TIME magazine
• Acquires UPI-based payments startup PhonePe
• Acquires Jabong
• Launches Flipkart Assured
• Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal named “Asian of the Year” by Straits Times of Singapore as part of the ‘The Disruptors’ group
• Launches PhonePe, India’s first UPI (Unified Payments Interface) based app
• Invests in Qikpod for locker deliveries

2017 – Flipkart celebrates 10 years with biggest-ever round of investments

• Kalyan Krishnamurthy named new Flipkart CEO. Binny Bansal takes on reins of Flipkart Group as Group CEO
• PhonePe crosses 10 million downloads on Google Play store
• Rahul Dravid launches #FlipkartBig10 logo as Flipkart celebrates a decade of game-changing innovation.
• Flipkart raises $1.4 billion from Tencent, eBay & Microsoft
• eBay India becomes part of the Flipkart Group
• Softbank Vision Fund invests in Flipkart to become one of the largest shareholders of the company

Also read: 

Flipkart raises $1.4 billion from Tencent, eBay & Microsoft and acquires eBay India

#FlipkartBig10 – A Timeline of Talent