Flipkart pulls in new investors for its latest $700 million funding, files for conversion to public company in Singapore

India’s homegrown ecommerce leader Flipkart just announced another whopping funding round. This time, it raised US$700 million investment from new investors Baillie Gifford, Greenoaks Capital, Steadview Capital, T. Rowe Price Associates,​ and Qatar Investment Authority, along with existing investors DST Global, GIC, ICONIQ Capital, and Tiger Global.

Interestingly, the ecommerce startup has also filed for conversion to a public company with ACRA Singapore. This move cannot be read as an indication of an upcoming IPO, Flipkart clarifies in a company statement. The filing is mandatory for all companies where the number of shareholders exceeds 50.

The fresh funding comes less than six months after it raised US$1 billion. The money will be used for “long-term strategic investments in India and to build a world-class technology company, delivering superior customer experiences.”

Ecommerce has been on steroids this year in India. A day after Flipkart’s billion dollar funding round, rival Amazon handed over a US$2 billion-cheque to its Indian arm. Japan’s Softbank then came in to bolster Snapdeal with US$627 million.

Flipkart has raised US$1.9 billion in all this year. It also acquired fashion portal Myntra, which had raised US$50 million in January.

Flipkart says it aspires to be the Alibaba of India, in an obvious swipe at its main competitor Amazon from Seattle, USA, where Flipkart’s founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal once worked as techies.

Amazon has meanwhile asked the Indian government to ease up on foreign direct investment (FDI) restrictions, which prevent it from selling goods directly to consumers. Currently, it only operates as a marketplace for third party sellers in India. It has said that allowing more FDI would further accelerate growth in ecommerce, create jobs, and help both buyers and sellers. The appeal to the government from the American company comes just ahead of US president Barack Obama’s visit to India next month.

See: Is this Flipkart’s secret weapon to beat Amazon?