It was one online chat that concealed the momentousness of the occasion. And it happened on Oct. 16, 2007, minutes after Flipkart.com went live.
The banality in the web message sent out that day by co-founder Binny Bansal is particularly amusing as the e-commerce major approaches its 10th anniversary, with Bansal now an icon.
According to a screengrab shared by Nilesh Heda, now a group product manager at Flipkart, Bansal pinged him (on what looks like Google Messenger) once the website went live, and requested him to create an account. It went like this:
Binny: we are live :)
me (Heda): Cool
flipkart.com… right?
Binny: Yes
you can see the name of the website in my status, right?
me: Yes
Binny: Make sure you create an account
The company’s journey has seen epic successes and massive failures. Meanwhile, India itself has come to become the world’s third-largest startup base.
In April this year, Flipkart announced it had received $1.4-billion in funding, the biggest amount ever raised by an Indian internet company in a single round. In this, the Bengaluru-based firm beat its own 2014 record of $1 billion. The latest round has now made it the world’s third-most funded startup.
Yet, over the last one year, Flipkart has faced several valuation markdowns. Even the April round came at a valuation ($11.6 billion) lower than the peak of $15.2 billion. It has been struggling to retain its position as market leader, with American rival Amazon nipping at its heels.
So, wonder what Bansal and Heda chat about these days.