Journey of Flipkart - From handing bookmarks to handling a multi-billion dollar company

“Remember meeting shy IIT juniors at 2 States book launch, saying sir we run a small e-bookstore. I siad what's the name? They said Flipkart” - Chetan Bhagat

It was that time when the first unicorn start up of India was in the making. It not only changed the e-commerce game but also changed the VC value perception in India. 

Let's explore the evolution of Flipkart over the last seven years. Ride along on the timeline below:

2007 – Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal both alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi left their job in Amazon. They were bored with their job and wanted to do something of their own. In October 2007, they incorporated their new company as Flipkart Online Services Pvt. Ltd. This is where Journey of Flipkart started.

The Bansal fact – They both share the same last name, but aren't related. They're from the same city Chandigarh. Went to the same school at St.Anne's Convent School. Completed computer software engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology. And landed job in Amazon.com. What could be more coincidental?!

2008 – The portal went online and started selling books online. Now, Flipkart is India's largest online bookstore selling more than five lakh books since its inception, according to media reports. 

'Both the partners used to deliver books across Bengaluru on their scooters and in October 2015 they showed up at the doorsteps of some customers, personally delivering goods in order to gain insights from the online buyer's.'

2009 – Flipkart raised funds worth $1 million from venture capital funds Accel India.

'Sachin admitted in an interview that starting Flipkart is the most ridiculous thing he has ever done and everyone around him thought that he was out of his mind.' 

2010 – Investment worth $20 million splurges in by Tiger Global respectively. 

'From a start-up with an investment of just four lakhs rupees, Flipkart has grown into a $100 million-revenue online retail giant in just five years.'

2011 – Flipkart launched pre-paid wallet to store money online. The feature allowed shoppers to shop online and store money on the site and use it to purchase items without using their credit or debit cards for transactions. 

'Not many people preferred online payment and the getaways weren't easy to set up. Flipkart tackled this problem by introducing cash on delivery and payment by card on delivery in addition to others.'

2012 – It raised $150 million from the existing investors. The company went on to launch an online digital music store, Flyte. 'Flyte was a one-stop shop for all kinds of music in all languages. Music was available at a price ranging from Rs 6 to Rs 15 per song on the platform.'

2013 – Flipkart launched seller marketplace. It's essentially a virtual mall where shoppers get access to all the brands at one place. 

The portal stepped back and shutted down Flyte. The move raised a lot of questions. The company acquired losses because when music was available for free, people didn't wished to pay for it. 

The next event in year 2013 was followed by the launch of PayZippy. It made online and mobile payments hassle free and handy without issuing card details, name or billing address every time. 

More investment poured in. The company raised $360 million from the existing investors. 

In the smartphone arena, Flipkart made it easy by launching an Android app for it's customers. It allowed them to navigate through different products and departments from books, entertainment, accessories and more. 

'Sachin had stated before that ‘No’ is a very difficult word and more so in our culture where people quickly tend to take offense. But a No which makes your business and customer say YES is worth the while.'

2014 – Flipkart reached it's annual Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) with a whopping $1 billion mark. 

Further, Flipkart acquired Myntra for an estimated $300 million. The deal became the biggest consolidation in the e-commerce space. 

The Big Billion Day – The Big Billion sale wooed the customers by selling mobile phones and tablets at their lowest prices available. Known as the biggest sale of India, it saw a business turnover of 300 million despite some glitches with the website. 

Flipkart repaid the investor's faith with terrific performances year after year. Hence, it raised a total of $1.91 billion funding from it's investors. 

2015 –In September 2015, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal entered Forbes India Rich List debuting at the 86th position with a net worth of $1.3 billion each.

It's for sure, the list of events and achievements will continue. And we all will keep feeling proud on the Bansal's!