E-commerce giant, Flipkart on Tuesday announced the acquisition of ANS Commerce, a full-stack e-commerce enabler that helps brands sell online.
With this acquisition, Flipkart continues its embarkment to strengthen the Indian e-commerce ecosystem by investing in the capabilities of technology enablers. It will address the needs of the rapidly growing and evolving digital retail market in the country.
In 2021, ANS Commerce was also part of Flipkart’s tech startup accelerator program – Flipkart Leap.
“ANS Commerce was created to enable businesses to leverage the opportunity of eCommerce in India. We’ve seen a dramatic change in consumer behavior, and as a result, brands have also pivoted in their approach on how to engage with consumers,” Amit Monga, Nakul Singh, Sushant Puri, and Vibhor Sahara, cofounders, of ANS Commerce, said in a joint statement.
The ANS Commerce acquisition comes in the wake of Flipkart making multiple investments and acquisitions in the last year.
The e-commerce giant acquired 100% shareholding in online travel booking site Cleartrip in April last year, online pharmacy SastaSundar in November last year, and invested with Walmart $145 Mn into Bengaluru-based agritech startup Ninjacart in December 2021. The round values the Tiger Global-backed startup between $700 Mn and $800 Mn.
Most recently in April, Flipkart announced that it launched Flipkart Health+ app to enable users to access medicines, healthcare products, and services across India.
The eCommerce marketplace also announced the expansion of its grocery services to 1,800 cities across India in January this year. With this, Flipkart Grocery will now deliver across 10,000 pin codes in 23 states.
About ANS
Starting in 2017, ANS Commerce has offerings for brands across the value chain, including brand store tech, performance marketing tech and services, marketplace integrations, and warehousing and facilities maintenance capabilities.
The firm works with more than 100 clients across the enterprise, mid-market, and D2C brands in different categories, supporting their transition to digital commerce, Flipkart said in a statement.
The eCommerce enablement startup raised $2.2 Mn last year in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Gokul Rajaram of Door Dash, also a board member at Coinbase and Pinterest; and Venture Catalysts.
Ravi Iyer, senior VP, and Head – of Corporate Development at Flipkart said, “We are committed to developing and nurturing the Internet consumer ecosystem, including developing and encouraging technological innovation that helps drive the Indian digital economy.
Our efforts focus on ensuring that businesses, including MSMEs and smaller brands, can leverage the opportunities that e-commerce offers. It is to provide greater value and deeper experiences for Indian customers who are rapidly adopting digital commerce.”
The deal, whose value is not known, is expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions.
