The US parent company of Amazon Seller Services injected a fresh equity infusion of INR 1,660 crore ($199 million) into the company operating the Amazon marketplace in India, as per a regulatory filing.
As part of the fundraising, the Indian entity allocated 1.66 billion equity shares, each valued at INR 10, to Amazon Corporate Holdings Ltd and Amazon.com, Inc, as indicated in the filing by Amazon Seller Services on April 15.
This development builds on Amazon’s commitment to India, with investments of more than INR 1,000 crore into its local entities this year. In February, the marketplace entity received INR 830 crore, while in January, Amazon invested INR 350 crore in the entity operating its fintech unit, Amazon Pay.
Continue Exploring: Amazon India’s marketplace division sees INR 830 Cr investment from US parent
A request for comment made to Amazon went unanswered.
Amazon’s primary competitors in India, namely Flipkart and Meesho, are also in the process of raising new funds for their Indian operations. In January, Flipkart received a cash injection of approximately INR 924 crore in two installments from its affiliated entities located in Singapore. Additionally, it was reported last December that the company is in discussions to secure up to $1 billion, with its parent company Walmart pledging to contribute $600 million.
Meesho recently concluded a funding round amounting to $275 million, which included a combination of primary and secondary share sales. This initial round serves as the first portion of a larger financing endeavor totaling $600 million, which the Bengaluru-based company is actively pursuing.
Continue Exploring: Meesho secures $275 Million in first tranche of larger funding round
In a bid to compete with Meesho, Amazon India recently launched Amazon Bazaar, featuring low-priced, unbranded fashion and lifestyle products. This move enters Amazon into the low-priced ecommerce segment, where it competes with Flipkart’s Shopsy and Reliance Industries’ forthcoming platform named Ajio Street.
Continue Exploring: Amazon launches ‘Bazaar’ to target price-conscious shoppers with unbranded fashion & home products
Amazon has been prioritizing its cloud services division, Amazon Web Services, over its core ecommerce business. In June of the previous year, CEO Andy Jassy announced the company’s plans to inject an additional $15 billion into the Indian market, thereby increasing its total investments in the country to over $26 billion by 2030.
According to the latest available data, Amazon Seller Services saw a 3.4% rise in revenue to INR 22,198 crore for the financial year that ended on March 31, 2023. However, the net loss widened by approximately a third to INR 4,854 crore.