India's top e-commerce company Flipkart is holding talks with investors to raise up to $1 billion in one of its biggest funding rounds so far, a person familiar with the developments said on Wednesday.
The person declined to name the potential investors and the exact valuation Flipkart was looking for, but said it hoped the valuation would be in "double digits", referring to a valuation of $10 billion or more.
Earlier on Wednesday, The Financial Express said, citing unidentified sources, that the expected fundraising could value Flipkart at up to $8 billion, far lower than the roughly $15 billion in its last funding round.
A Flipkart spokesman said the company didn't comment on market speculation.
Flipkart's latest fundraising comes amid intensifying competition in the e-commerce space from the likes of US Internet giant Amazon.com Inc and domestic rival Snapdeal, which is backed by Japan's Softbank Group.
The ensuing heavy losses have hit valuations of India's e-commerce players. Some funds that have invested in Flipkart have recently slashed the value of their holdings, media reports have said, citing securities filings.
Launched by two former Amazon employees in 2007, Flipkart's biggest investor is US hedge fund Tiger Global. Others include Accel Partners, DST Global and Baillie Gifford.
The company has so far raised more than $3 billion in funding, mostly from international investors.
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