golden bird

Verghese Kurien

Verghese Kurien

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dr. Verghese Kurien

Born26 November 1921Calicut, Madras Presidency, British India(now Kozhikode, Kerala)

Died9 September 2012 (aged90)Nadiad, Gujarat, India

NationalityIndian

Othernames"Milkman of India"

EthnicityNasrani

AlmamaterCollege of Engineering, GuindyMichigan State University

OccupationFounder of Amul Ex-Chairman GCMMF, NDDB, Institute of Rural Management Anand

KnownforWidely acclaimed as the "Father of the White revolution" in India[1]

ReligionNone (Atheism)

Spouse(s)Molly

ChildrenNirmala Kurien

AwardsWorld Food Prize (1989)Padma Vibhushan (1999)Padma Bhushan (1966)Padma Shri (1965)Ramon Magsaysay Award (1963)

Verghese Kurien (26 November 1921 9 September 2012) was a renowned Indian social entrepreneur and is best known as the "Father of the White Revolution",[2] for his 'billion-litre idea' (Operation Flood) the world's largest agricultural development programme.[3] This transformed India from a milk-deficient nation to the world's largest milk producer, surpassing the United States of America in 1998,[4] with about 17 percent of global output in 201011, which in 30 years doubled the milk available to every person.[5] Dairy farming became India's largest self-sustaining industry.[6] He made the country self-sufficient in edible oils too later on,[7] taking the powerful and entrenched oil supplying lobby head-on.

He founded around 30 institutions of excellence (like AMUL, GCMMF, IRMA, NDDB) which are owned, managed by farmers and run by professionals. As the founding chairman of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), Kurien was responsible for the creation and success of the Amul brand of dairy products. A key achievement at Amul was the invention[8] of milk powder processed from buffalo milk[9] (abundant in India), as opposed to that made from cow-milk, in the then major milk producing nations. This led Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri to appoint him the founder-chairman of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1965, to replicate Amul's "Anand model" nationwide.[3] He is regarded as one of the greatest proponents of the cooperative movement in the world, his work having lifted millions out of poverty in India, and outside.

Contents

1 Early life and education 2 Career 3 Personal life, family and beliefs 4 Film and its use in enlarging the movement 5 Books 6 Prestigious awards and distinguished honours 7 References 8 External links

8.1 Official 8.2 OthersEarly life and educationKurien was born on 26 November 1921 at Calicut (now Kozhikode, Kerala) into a Syrian Christian family[10]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verghese_Kurien" \l "cite_note-Tridip-11" [11] His father was a civil surgeon in Cochin, Kerala.

He graduated in Physics from Loyola College, Madras in 1940 and then obtained his Bachelors in mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering, Guindy[12] affiliated to University of Madras. After completing his degree, he joined the Tata Steel Technical Institute, Jamshedpur from where he graduated in 1946. Subsequently, he went to the United States on a Government of India scholarship to earn a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Distinction) from Michigan State University in 1948.[13]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verghese_Kurien" \l "cite_note-Verghese_Kurien_milkman-14" [14]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verghese_Kurien" \l "cite_note-Kurien_white-15" [15]CareerKurien arrived back from the United States to India after his master's degree, and was quickly deputed to the Government of India's experimental creamery, at Anand in Gujarat's Kheda district by the government and rather half-heartedly served out his bond period against the scholarship given by them. He arrived at Anand on Friday 13 May 1949 and started the work assigned to him the very same day. He had already made up his mind to quit mid-way, but was persuaded to stay back at Anand[16] by Tribhuvandas Patel (who would later share the Magsaysay with him) who had brought together Kheda's farmers as a cooperative union to process and sell their milk, a pioneering concept at the time.[17]He would brook no meddling from the political class or bureaucrats sitting in the capital cities, letting it be known upfront,[18] though he, and his mentor and colleague, Tribhuvandas Patel were backed by the few enlightened political leaders and bureaucrats of the early Independence days who saw merit in their pioneering cooperative model.

Tribhuvandas Patel's sincere and earnest efforts inspired Kurien to dedicate himself to the challenging task before them, so much so, that when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was to visit Anand later to inaugurate Amul's plant,[19] he embraced Kurien for his groundbreaking work. Meanwhile, Kurien's buddy and dairy expert H. M. Dalaya, invented[8] the process of making skim milk powder and condensed milk from buffalo milk[9] instead of from cow milk. This was the reason Amul would compete successfully and well against Nestle which only used cow milk to make them. In India, buffalo milk is the main raw material unlike Europe where cow milk is abundant. The Amul pattern of cooperatives became so successful, that in 1965 Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, created the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to replicate the program nationwide citing Kurien's "extraordinary and dynamic leadership" upon naming him chairman.

As the 'Amul dairy experiment' was replicated in Gujarat's districts in the neighbourhood of Anand, Kurien set all of them up under GCMMF in 1973 to sell the combined produce of the dairies under a single Amul brand. Today GCMMF sells Amul products not only in India but also overseas. He quit the post of GCMMF chairman in 2006 following disagreement with the GCMMF management.[20]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verghese_Kurien" \l "cite_note-21" [21]When the National Dairy Development Board expanded the scope of Operation Flood to cover the entire country in its Phase 2 program in 1979: Kurien founded the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA).Kurien, played a key role in many other organisations, like chairing the Viksit Bharat Foundation, a body set up by the President of India. Kurien was mentioned by the Ashoka Foundation as one of the eminent present Day Social Entrepreneurs. Kurien's life story is chronicled in his memoir I Too Had a Dream.[22] Interestingly Kurien, the person who revolutionised the availability of milk in India did not drink milk himself.[23] Nevertheless, the work of Kurien & his team in India took India from a milk importer to a milk & milk-products exporting nation within the span of two decades.

Personal life, family and beliefsVerghese married Molly and they had one daughter Nirmala Kurien and a grandson, Siddharth.[24] He was an atheist.[25] Verghese Kurien died on 9 September 2012 after a brief spell of illness in Nadiad, near Anand in Gujarat, India. He was 90. His wife Molly died on 14 December 2012 in Mumbai after a brief illness.[26]Film and its use in enlarging the movementVeteran film-maker Shyam Benegal, then an advertising executive with Lintas Advertising, produced Manthan (the churning of the 'milk ocean'), a story set in the cooperative milk movement in India. Not able to finance it, Benegal was helped by Kurien who hit upon an idea of getting each of his half a million member farmers to contribute a token two rupees for the making of the movie. Upon its release, truckloads of farmers came to see "their" film, making it a success at the box office. Manthan hit a chord with the audience immediately when it was shown in Gujarat in 1976, which impressed distributors to release it before audiences, nationwide. It was critically acclaimed and went on to win national awards the following year and was later shown on television to the public.

The movie's success gave Kurien another idea. Like shown in the film, a vet, a milk technician and a fodder specialist who could explain the value of cross-breeding of milch cattle would tour other parts of the country along with the film's prints, to woo farmers there to create cooperatives of their own.[27]UNDP would use the movie to start similar cooperatives in Latin America.[28]Books Kurien, Verghese (2005) I Too Had a Dream. APH Publishing Corp. ISBN 9788174364074.

Kurien, Verghese (1997) An Unfinished Dream. Tata-McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780074622148.

The Man Who Made The Elephant Dance Audio Autobiography of Dr. Kurien in the voice of Tom Alter with Audio Foreword by Ratan Tata, in his own voice ISBN 9789382299240 Verghese Kurien: The Man with the Billion Litre idea (2013) Amar Chitra Katha. ISBN 9789350853863.

Prestigious awards and distinguished honoursYearName of Award or HonorAwarding Organization

1999Padma VibhushanGovernment of India

1993International Person of the Year AwardWorld Dairy Expo

1991Distinguished Alumni AwardMichigan State University.

1989World Food PrizeWorld Food Prize, USA.

1986Wateler Peace Prize AwardCarnegie Foundation, The Netherlands.

1986Krushi Ratna AwardGovernment of India.

1966Padma BhushanGovernment of India.

1965Padma ShriGovernment of India.

1963Ramon Magsaysay AwardRamon Magsaysay Award Foundation.

Naveen Jain


[hide]This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.The neutrality of this article is disputed. (September 2013)A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (September 2013)

Naveen Jain

Business Executive, Entrepreneur

Born6 September 1959 (age55)

AlmamaterIIT RoorkeeXLRI

OccupationCEO of inome

KnownforFounder and former CEO of Infospace

Website

http://www.naveenjain.com/

Naveen K. Jain (born 6 September 1959) is a business executive and entrepreneur. He is the founder and former of CEO of InfoSpace, founder and CEO of inome (originally called Intelius), and founder and Chairman of Moon Express.[1] When Infospace stock was at its heights during the dot-com boom, Jain briefly became a billionaire, appearing on Forbes' list of the "400 Richest Americans" for 2000.[2]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-billdropoffs-3" [3]Contents

1 Background 2 Professional background

2.1 Early professional life 2.2 Microsoft and MSN 2.3 InfoSpace 2.4 Intelius

2.4.1 inome 2.4.2 TalentWise 2.5 Moon Express 2.6 World Innovation Institute 3 Notable rulings 4 Recognition 5 Board memberships 6 Family 7 References 8 External linksBackgroundJain grew up in villages throughout Uttar Pradesh, as well as in cities such as New Delhi. Later he moved to Roorkee, where in 1979 he earned an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, and then moved to Jamshedpur, where in 1982 he earned his MBA at XLRI School of Business and Human Resources.[4]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-SeattleTimes1-5" [5]Professional backgroundEarly professional lifeJain left India in 1983 after being accepted to Burroughs via a business-exchange program to explore the emerging U.S. high-technology market. He worked at companies that included Convergent Technologies and Tandon Computer Corporation.[4]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-SeattleTimes1-5" [5]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-RedHerring-6" [6]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-7" [7]Microsoft and MSNIn 1989, Jain joined Microsoft in Redmond, Washington, working in the capacity of Program Manager. He initially began working on OS/2 and then moved on to several of Microsoft's flagship products, including MS-DOS, Windows NT, and Windows 95. Jain is listed on three patents from his time with Microsoft.[8] He later moved to the development of the Microsoft Network. Jain left Microsoft in 1996 to form InfoSpace.[6]InfoSpaceJain founded InfoSpace in March 1996 and served as Chief Executive Officer until 2000. InfoSpace provides metasearch and private-label Internet search services for consumers and businesses. While CEO, Jain's personal worth rose from almost one billion dollars in 1999[9] to USD$2.2 billion in 2000 when, at the height of the dot-com bubble, he was ranked 121 on the Forbes 400 Richest Americans.[10]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-ForbesMtrt-11" [11] He resumed the role of CEO in 2001,[12] but was forced out by InfoSpace's board as chairman and CEO in December 2002.[13] In April 2003, he resigned from the InfoSpace board.[14]InteliusIn 2003, Jain co-founded Intelius, a Bellevue, Washington-based Web security firm.[4]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-SeattleWeekly07-15" [15]The company has been subject to significant criticism and lawsuits relating to their marketing practices.[16]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-seattleweekly-17" [17]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-SeattlePI10-18" [18]inomeIn 2012 Intelius and its holdings were restructured. The corporate umbrella was named "inome".[19]TalentWiseTalentWise is a May 2013 spin-off from inome where Jain serves on the board.[20]Moon ExpressIn August 2010,[21] Jain co-founded Moon Express,[22]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-SuccessfulFlight-23" [23] a privately funded company that aims to build and launch a robotic spacecraft to the moon.[24]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-Hindu.com-25" [25]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-lat20110408-26" [26]World Innovation InstituteJain is the founder of The World Innovation Institute.[27]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-World_Future_Society-28" [28]Notable rulingsIn May 2002, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman made a landmark $247 million ruling in favor of Thomas Dreiling, a small shareholder of InfoSpace who brought a lawsuit against InfoSpace as well as then CEO Jain. The judge ruled, Jain had bought InfoSpace stock within 6 months of selling the stock (short swing) . Language in documents prepared by J.P. Morgan Securities incorrectly put control of stock granted to Jain's children's trust funds in 1998 and 1999 in the Jains' account without the Jains' knowledge. The judge ruled that Jain had in essence "purchased" the stock for nothing while Jain had sold the $202 Million of stock within six months of this event that caused the stock to be considered a purchase. Jain argued that he didn't intend to take control of the trusts and blamed J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc., among others, for the mistake.[29]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-30" [30]While the cases were in appeal, attorneys at the Securities and Exchange Commission sided with Jain and urged the appeals court to reverse the ruling. Attorneys representing InfoSpace shareholders agreed to settle the case, fearing the weight of the SEC brief could result in a complete reversal of their ruling during the appeal process. In late 2004, InfoSpace reached a settlement agreement resolving the numerous related lawsuits, including the Dreiling v. Jain, et al. Section 16(b) (short swing) case which was pending on appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Insurance carriers finally settled the case in March 2009.[31]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-32" [32]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-TS09-33" [33]Following the settlement, Jain unsuccessfully sued his stock management company and lawyers. The Supreme Court in March 2009 refused to hear an appeal from Jain of the decision against him from the Washington state Court of Appeals.[33]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-34" [34]In early March 2003, InfoSpace sued Jain for allegedly violating noncompete agreements in his role at newly founded Intelius. In an interview after the suit was filed, Jain said the lawsuit was without merit and was a retaliation for Jain's whistle-blowing.[13] The court found in favor of Jain citing no evidence to support InfoSpace's claim.[35]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-TheEconomicTimes-36" [36]RecognitionIn 1999, Jain was awarded the Emerging Entrepreneur Award Winner for the Pacific Northwest Region by Ernst & Young.[37]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-EmergingEntrepreneuer-38" [38]On April 25, 2011, The Times Group awarded Jain the "Light of India Business Leadership Award" for "visionary entrepreneurship".[4]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-LightofIndia-39" [39]In December 2011, Jain received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Red Herring Global 2011 Conference.[40]Board membershipsIn 1999, Jain served on the board of directors of Freei,[41] aka FreeInternet.com, which was an online service provider.[42]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-BusinessWire-43" [43]In June 2011, Jain was elected to the board of directors of Singularity University.[4]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-SingularityUniversity-44" [44]Jain is a trustee of xprize foundation and co-chairs the education and global development initiative of the X Prize Foundation.[4]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-xprize-45" [45]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-firstpost-46" [46]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-SingularityUniversityAppointment-47" [47]FamilyJain is married and lives in Medina, Washington.[2] He has three children, Ankur, Priyanka and Neil.[47]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naveen_Jain" \l "cite_note-FamilyFoundation-48" [48]Ankur Jain graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2011, and is working on a business venture that will connect entrepreneurs with innovative technologies with established businesses in foreign markets.[49]Laxmanrao Kirloskar


Laxmanrao Kirloskar

BornJune 20, 1869India

OccupationFounder, Kirloskar Group

Spouse(s)Radhabai Kirloskar

ChildrenShantanurao Laxmanrao KirloskarRajaram Kirloskar/ Prabhakar KirloskarRavi Kirloskar

Laxmanrao Kashinath Kirloskar (Marathi: ) (1869-1956) was an Indian businessman. He was the founder of the Kirloskar Group. He was born on 20 June 1869, in a small village, Gurlahosur in Belgaum District.

Laxmanrao was fond of two things: mechanical objects and painting. Against his fathers wish and with financial support from his eldest brother Ramuanna, Laxmanrao joined J J School of Art in Bombay in 1885. Unfortunately, he had to quit after 2 years as he was found to be partially color-blind. He gave up painting but continued to study mechanical drawing at the institute. This skill came handy and lead him to a position of Assistant Teacher of Mechanical Drawing at Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (VJTI) on a salary of Rs. 45 per month. Sometime in early 1890s Laxmanrao started bicycle dealership he would buy bicycles in Bombay and send them to his brother Ramuanna in Belgaum where he would sell them. For a cycle of Rs. 700 to 1000 Ramuanna would also charge Rs. 15 for teaching how to ride.[1]His first venture - a small bicycle repair shop at Belgaum. The road on which he started the shop, is today named as Kirloskar Road. Strongly believing that agricultural implements must fit the milieu they are used in, he manufactured iron ploughs, the first Kirloskar products.

He established a small unit in the former Aurangabad State for production of Chaff-cutters and manufacture of iron ploughs. In the early days, Kirloskar had to meet with opposition from farmers who believed that iron ploughs were poison to the land and make it useless. Superstitious farmers were extremely hard to convince and Laxmanrao Kirloskar took two years to sell his first iron ploughs. Laxmanrao Kirloskar could not find a suitable place for his workshop; help from the Ruler of Aundh who offered him a place and arranging loan of seventeen thousand Indian rupees. 1910 Laxmanrao started his factory in an arid waste land by the side of a renown railway station, named Kundal Road. The factory now known as famous Kirloskar Industries and the station called as Kirloskarvadi. Laxmanrao Kirloskar was not only an industrialist but also a great social reformer. When blind orthodoxy was rampant in rural area, he advocated the removal of untouchability. He banned untouchability in the township that he had established at Kirloskarvadi. He believed in social reform and tristed in the goodness of man. He employed ex-convicts as night watchman.[2]He had read about industrial townships in Europe and America where the owners of industries had built communities for the employees. His dream was to build his own industry and community for his employees; he realized this dream with Kirloskarwadi, a place where he started the Kirloskar Brothers Limited factory in 1910.

Laxmanrao was married to Radhabhai Kirloskar and had four children, Shantanu Kirloskar, Rajaram kirloskar, Prabhakar kirloskar, Ravindra (Ravi) kirloskar.

Government of India - Indian Postal department issued a postal stamp for Laxmanrao kirloskar on 20 / June/ 1969 marking 100 years of birth anniversary.[3]Flipkart


[hide]This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.This article uses bare URLs for citations, which may be threatened by link rot. (January 2015)This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (January 2015)This article appears to be written like an advertisement. (August 2014)

Flipkart

The Online Megastore

TypePrivate

IndustryInternet

Founded5 September 2007

FounderSachin Bansal, Binny Bansal

HeadquartersBangalore, Karnataka, India

Area servedIndia

Key peopleSachin BansalBinny BansalAmod Malviya

ServicesE-commerce(Online shopping)

RevenueUS$ 1 billion (gross merchandise 2013-14)[1]

Total assets$12 billion(Dec,2014)[1]

Number of employees15,000 (2014)[2]

SubsidiariesMyntra

WebsiteFlipkart.com

Flipkart is an Indian E-Commerce company established in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. It operates exclusively in India, with headquarters at Bangalore, Karnataka. Flipkart has launched its own product range under the name "DigiFlip" with products including tablets, USBs, and laptop bags. Flipkart has also launched its own range of personal healthcare and home appliances under the brand "Citron".[3]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-4" [4]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-5" [5]In May 2014, Flipkart received $210 million from DST Global and in July it raised $1 billion led by existing investors Tiger Global and South Africa's media group Naspers. Flipkart's last fundraising round in December had pegged its valuation at $12 billion.[2]Contents

1 History

1.1 Acquisitions 2 Finance 3 Flyte Digital Music Store 4 Exclusive Product Launches 5 In-house Products 6 Criticism 7 Awards and recognition 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksHistoryFlipkart (Company) was founded in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, both alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. They had been working for Amazon.com previously. The business was formally incorporated as a company in October 2008 as Flipkart Online Services Pvt. Ltd.[6] During its initial years, Flipkart focused only on books, and soon as it expanded, it started offering other products like electronic goods, air conditioners, air coolers, stationery supplies and life style products and e-books. The first product sold by them was the book Leaving Microsoft To Change The World, bought by VVK Chandra from Andhra Pradesh.[7]


HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-9" [9] Flipkart now employs more than 15000 people.[10] Flipkart allows payment methods such as cash on delivery, credit or debit card transactions, net banking, e-gift voucher and card swipe on delivery.[11]Acquisitions 2010: WeRead, a social book discovery tool.[12] 2011: Mime360, a digital content platform company.[13] 2011: Chakpak.com, a Bollywood news site that offers updates, news, photos and videos. Flipkart acquired the rights to Chakpak's digital catalogue which includes 40,000 filmographies, 10,000 movies and close to 50,000 ratings. Flipkart has categorically said that it will not be involved with the original site and will not use the brand name.[14] 2012: Letsbuy.com, an Indian e-retailer in electronics. Flipkart has bought the company for an estimated US$25 million.[15]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-letsbuy-acquired-16" [16] Letsbuy.com was closed down and all traffic to Letsbuy has been diverted to Flipkart.[17] 2014: Acquired Myntra.com in an estimated INR 2,000 crore deal.[18]FinanceInitially, the founders had spent 400,000 only for making website to set up the business.[19] Flipkart has later raised funding from venture capital funds Accel India (US$1 million in 2009)[20]


HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-22" [22] and Tiger Global (US$10 million in 2010 and US$20 million in June 2011).[23]


HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-25" [25] On 24 August 2012, Flipkart announced the completion of its 4th round of $150 million funding from MIH (part of Naspers Group) and ICONIQ Capital.[26] The company announced, on 10 July 2013, that it has raised an additional $200 million from existing investors including Tiger Global, Naspers, Accel Partners and Iconiq Capital.[27]Flipkart's reported sales were 40 million in FY 20082009,[28]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-29" [29] 200 million in FY 20092010[30] and 750 million for FY 20102011.[31] In FY 20112012, Flipkart is set to cross the 5 billion (US$100 million) mark as Internet usage in the country increases and people get accustomed to making purchases online.[32] Flipkart projects its sales to reach 10 billion by year 2014. On average, Flipkart sells nearly 10 products per minute[33] and is aiming at generating a revenue of 50 billion (US$0.81 billion) by 2015.[34]On November 2012, Flipkart became one of the companies being probed for alleged violations of FDI regulations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999[35]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-36" [36]Flipkart reported a loss of 281 crore for the FY 2012-13.[37] In July 2013, Flipkart raised USD 160 million from private equity investors.[38]In October 2013, it was reported that Flipkart had raised an additional $160 million from new investors Dragoneer Investment Group, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Sofina SA and Vulcan Inc. with participation from existing investor Tiger Global.[39]


HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-41" [41]On 26 May 2014, Flipkart announced that it has raised $210 million from Yuri Milners DST Global and its existing investors Tiger Global, Naspers and Iconiq Capital.[42]In early July 2014, it was also highly speculated that Flipkart was in negotiations to raise at least $500 million, for a likely listing in the US for 2016.[43]On 29 July 2014, Flipkart announced that it raised $1 billion[44] from Tiger Global Management LLC, Accel Partners, and Morgan Stanley Investment Management and a new investor Singapore sovereign-wealth fund GIC.[45]On 6 October 2014, Flipkart sold products worth INR 650Crore in 10 hours in a special one-day event - "The Big Billion Day", claiming they had created e-commerce history, but their hard-won reputation for good customer service suffered because of technical problems, and angry reactions on social media from buyers disappointed with the pricing and availability of products.[46]


HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-48" [48] It claimed to sell a whopping 5 lakh mobile handsets, five-lakh clothes and shoes and 25,000 television sets within hours of opening its discounted sale at 8 AM.[49] In December 2014, After it received $700 million from another funding, Flipkart had a market cap of $11 billion or Rs.66000 crore.[50]On 20 December 2014, Flipkart announced filing application with Singapore based companies' regulator ACRA to become a public company after raising USD 700 million for long term strategic investments in India following which its number of investors exceeded 50. The USD 700 million fund raised by Flipkart added new investors - Baillie Gifford, Greenoaks Capital, Steadview Capital, T. Rowe Price Associates and Qatar Investment Authority - on company's board.Its existing investors DST Global, GIC, ICONIQ Capital and Tiger Global also participated in this latest financing round.[51]Flyte Digital Music StoreIn October and November 2011, Flipkart acquired the websites Mime360.com[13] and Chakpak.com.[14] Later, in February 2012, the company revealed its new Flyte Digital Music Store.[52] Flyte, a legal music download service in the vein of iTunes and Amazon.com, offered DRM-free MP3 downloads. But it was shut down on 17 June 2013 as paid song downloads did not get popular in India due to the advent of free music streaming sites.[53]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-54" [54]Exclusive Product LaunchesMotorola Mobility, previously owned by Google but then sold to Lenovo, in an exclusive tie up with Flipkart launched its budget smartphone Moto G in India on 5 February 2014.[55]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-56" [56] This triggered an overwhelming response from online shoppers and more than 20,000 units were sold within hours of launch on Flipkart. After the Moto G successful debut launch, Flipkart was looking for a long term tie up with Motorola Mobility.[57] The Moto G success story, led to an another exclusive tie up between Flipkart & Motorola Mobility, who launched their flagship Android smartphone, the Moto X on 19 March 2014.[58]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-59" [59] After Moto G and Moto X, Flipkart invited the Moto E, the newest member of Moto family which is even cheaper than Moto G on 13 May 2014.[60] The sale of high-end smartphone Xiaomi Mi3 produced by Xiaomi Tech was launched in India on an exclusive tie-up with Flipkart. The first batch was sold out within 39 minutes[61] on 22 July 2014, the second in 5 seconds[62] on 29 July 2014. The sale was proceeded on pre-registration mode where more than 150 000 buyers booked for the 5 August 2014 sale. This got sold off in less than 2 seconds.[63] Following this Xiaomi Tech decided to sell 20,000 pieces in the next sale scheduled for 12 August 2014.[64] On September 2, 2014 Flipkart held a flash sale of the budget Android smartphone the Xiaomi Redmi 1S which was launched in India in July 2014. 40, 000 units priced at Rs 5999 each were sold within seconds.[65] In the second round of Xiaomi Redmi 1S sale held on Sept 9, 2014, 40,000 units were sold within a span of 4.5 seconds, slightly longer than the first sale, which lasted just 4.3 seconds.[66] Third round of Redmi 1S sale held on Sept 16, 2014 with again 40,000 units sold in fastest of all 3.4 seconds.[67] In the 4th round of sale of Redmi 1S held on Sept 23, 2014, Flipkart put more units this time, 60,000 units go out of stock in 5.2 seconds.[68] In the latest Flash sale held on Sept 30, 2014, once again 60,000 units Go out of stock in 13.9 seconds.[69] Redmi Note in India exclusively through Flipkart. The first flash sale of 50,000 Redmi Note devices held on December 2, 2014 and all the devices sold out in mere 6 seconds, just like all the earlier flash sales of Xiaomi held at Flipkart.[70]In-house Products In July 2014 Flipkart launched its own set of tablet, mobile phones & Phablet. The first among these series of tablet phones was Digiflip Pro XT 712 Tablet.

In July 2014 Flipkart launched its first networking router, under its own brand name named DigiFlip WR001 300 Mbit/s Wireless N Router.

In September 2014 Flipkart launched its in-house home appliances and personal healthcare brand Citron. The label includes a wide range of cooking utilities and grooming products.

CriticismOn 6 October 2014 Flipkart launched Big Billion Day with intention to increase the popularity by targeting billion sales in 1 day. This even though helped Flipkart achieve the target led to public outcry and widespread criticism across consumers, competitors and partners heavily damaging its reputation.

Many users couldn't place the order because the servers were not capable enough to take the load and was giving random errors to users which led to frustration among customers.[71] Many users who placed orders got email saying that the order got cancelled.[72] Most of the products were sold for price less than cost price and was accused of killing the competition. Major competitors filed complaints against Flipkart to commerce ministry claiming that selling products for less than cost price is against the commerce policy of the country.[73] Ministry said that they will form new trade rules for e retail after this incident.[74]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart" \l "cite_note-75" [75]On 13 September 2014 a Flipkart delivery boy molested a house maid in Hyderabad.[76] The house maid's employer has been fighting against Flipkart for justice on this issue, and also for making offline delivery services safe.[77]Awards and recognition Co-Founder of Flipkart Sachin Bansal, got Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2012-2013 from Economic Times, leading Indian Economic Daily[78] Flipkart.com was awarded Young Turk of the Year at CNBC TV 18's 'India Business Leader Awards 2012' (IBLA).[79] Flipkart.com- got Nominated for IndiaMART Leaders of Tomorrow Awards 2011.[80]

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