Is Flipkart’s new management rejig a step along the IPO route?

Flipkart, India’s biggest ecommerce marketplace, has rejigged its top-level management. Or, maybe more accurately, it has decided to find new designations for its two co-founders.

In a blog post Monday morning, Flipkart said co-founder and chief executive officer Sachin Bansal is now executive chairman of the company and Binny Bansal, till now chief operating officer and fellow co-founder (they are not related), will be the CEO. Mukesh Bansal, who got a spot at the Flipkart management table when his company Myntra was bought by Flipkart, is to remain the head of the company’s commerce platform.

“In this next phase of the journey, it will be our endeavor to …prove that India can produce a world-class internet company that can outshine any global behemoth.”

Now, Flipkart has been tinkering with this idea for quite some time. Around February last year, it held a townhall meeting where the Bansals outlined new GMV targets, and talked about Sachin freeing himself up from day-to-day operations to focus on the bigger picture.

The change of CEO is new, but not a shocker since the other co-founder gets the job. The more important message lies elsewhere.

Freeing Sachin Bansal up to focus more on strategies is a definitive sign of a company growing up. In India, Flipkart is in a constant feud with Amazon, which has built up considerable pressure on the Indian unicorn.

Moreover, new CEO Binny Bansal seems to be eyeing an IPO within the new 5 years. That will require the company to show some route to profitability, which means there has to be a heightened focus on long-term strategies, not just big bang discounts to get more customers.

And that’s exactly what the big idea seems to be.

“In his role as executive chairman of Flipkart, Sachin will provide strategic direction for Flipkart, mentor the senior leadership of the company and look for new investment opportunities,” the company’s statement said.

Also, don’t miss the not-so-veiled reference to Amazon by Sachin:

“In this next phase of the journey, it will be our endeavor to…prove that India can produce a world-class internet company that can outshine any global behemoth,” he said in a statement.