Flipkart’s venture fund invites startup applications for third cohort of its accelerator programme

Flipkart Ventures, the corporate venture fund from e-commerce company Flipkart on Monday announced the opening of applications for the third cohort of its accelerator programme Flipkart Leap Ahead. The early-stage tech startup-focused accelerator will invite applications from April 22 to May 26, 2024.

Startups leveraging GenAI in their core solutions across sectors will receive equity funding between $200,000 and $500,000 in addition to mentorship to achieve product-market fit, build scalable architecture, and assemble strong teams, the company said in a statement.

The two-month mentorship programme will conclude with a demo day where startups will share their progress and plans with potential investors to secure additional funding for their expansion.

Speaking on the third cohort launch, Lubna Ahmed, Head of Flipkart Ventures, said the accelerator programme provides selected startups with “substantial financial investment and, more importantly, opportunities for invaluable mentorship. To drive their growth, we look forward to ushering in the next generation of innovation.”

In its previous two cohorts, over 15 startups across deep tech, fintech, health tech, generative AI, and sustainability have raised funding. The inaugural and preceding cohorts included startups that received further investments such as RightBot, Tune.ai, LivWell, FlexifyMe, Dopplr, etc.

The programme has invited applications from India-based, early-stage (between Seed to Series A) technology startups from sectors including fintech (B2B & B2C), mobility & logistics, GenAI, healthtech, Saas, B2B marketplaces, deeptech, and climate & sustainability.

Flipkart Ventures is the $100 million fund for early-stage startups.

Meanwhile, e-commerce firm Flipkart’s valuation dropped by $5 billion or around Rs 41,000 crore as of January 2024 vis-a-vis to that in January 2022, according to equity transactions carried out by its US-based parent firm Walmart, PTI reported in March this year.

The valuation had declined to $35 billion as of January 31, 2024, from $40 billion in the FY ended on January 31, 2022, as per Walmart’s change in equity structure in Flipkart.

Flipkart had attributed the fall to the demerger of fintech company PhonePe into a separate company.