Former SoftBank managing partner Lydia Jett rejoins Flipkart board
Lydia Jett, a veteran investment manager and former managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, has returned to Flipkart’s board as a board member effective June 26, 2024, the company announced on Monday evening.
Jett brings a unique blend of two decades of experience investing in and serving on the boards of leading consumer technology companies. As founder and managing partner of SoftBank Investment Advisors (SBIA), Jett led the global consumer internet and e-commerce sectors, working with many of the world’s top consumer platforms.
She has served as an independent director on the boards of NYSE: Coupang, NASDAQ: Ozon and Fanatics. Her committee work includes the Audit, Compensation, IPO Readiness, Nomination and Governance Committees.
“I am pleased to join the Flipkart board and look forward to working with the other board members to help the company navigate its next phase of growth,” said Jett. “India’s e-commerce market is growing rapidly and promises great opportunities for continued innovation and value.”
Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO and Member of the Board of Directors of Flipkart Group, welcomed Jett to the Board of Directors and said, “We are pleased to have Lydia join the Board of Directors of Flipkart. Her extensive global experience and understanding of the consumer internet and e-commerce industry will add significant value to the Flipkart Group as we focus on creating positive impact for customers and growth opportunities for businesses, especially MSMEs in India that want to be part of the rapidly evolving digital economy. “
Besides Krishnamurthy, Flipkart’s board also includes HDFC CEO Keki Mistry and senior Walmart executives.
Jett is a graduate of Stanford Graduate School of Business, Smith College, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. She previously represented SoftBank on the board of Flipkart during the fund’s investment in 2017. She later stepped down after US retail giant Walmart acquired a majority stake in the e-commerce company in 2018.
Earlier this year, Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal officially left the board of the Walmart-owned e-commerce company, which he co-founded with Sachin Bansal 16 years ago. The move comes months after he sold his remaining stake in the company. Binny Bansal also recently took his new startup, OppDoor, public, aimed at providing end-to-end solutions to e-commerce businesses.
Sachin Bansal, the other co-founder, left the board in 2018. After leaving Flipkart, Sachin founded Navi, a financial services company.
In 2018, when US retail giant Walmart invested $16 billion for a majority stake in Flipkart, the Bengaluru-based company was valued at less than $21 billion.
Jett joins Flipkart’s board at a time when the e-commerce company is planning to shift its domicile back to India from Singapore, industry sources said. The company, valued at $33 billion, could yield a significant tax benefit for the Indian government.
According to sources, Flipkart raised $350 million from tech giant Google in May. The investment is part of the $1 billion funding round that Flipkart initiated in 2023.
The company is ramping up its efforts to become profitable as it eyes a valuation of about $60 billion at the time of its initial public offering (IPO), now scheduled for 2025-2026 instead of this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is considering possibly listing in India and other geographies, including the US. Moving to India is tied to eventual IPO plans.
The company, which counts Amazon and Reliance’s JioMart among its rivals in India’s fast-growing e-commerce market, had also considered launching an initial public offering in 2022-23. However, the plan had to be shelved due to financial considerations and global macroeconomic uncertainty.
First print: 01 Jul 2024 | 22:08 IST