Is Flipkart the Real Startup Factory of India - Again?

After nurturing startups like PhonePe and super.money from within, Flipkart eyes its next venture with a new in-house startup under the leadership of VP and Chief of Staff Ashish Vijayvergiya.

In what seems to be yet another ambitious move from India’s e-commerce behemoth, Flipkart is once again donning the role of a startup incubator- this time, for one of its own senior leaders.

Ashish Vijayvergiya, the Vice President and Chief of Staff to Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, is reportedly gearing up to launch a new company within the Flipkart Group, following the footsteps of super.money and PhonePe.

Sources close to the development reveal that while Vijayvergiya’s exact business idea is still evolving, early discussions revolved around launching a fantasy gaming platform. However, the concept has been shifting and is now more likely to revolve around consumption and content, aligning with India’s growing appetite for digital entertainment, commerce, and monetizable content ecosystems.

Interestingly, this isn’t Vijayvergiya’s exit from Flipkart—rather, it’s a strategic internal transition. After spending over a decade at the Walmart-owned company, he was contemplating a full exit to pursue entrepreneurial ambitions. But Flipkart’s leadership saw an opportunity to retain his talent by offering him a chance to build something of his own within the corporate umbrella—much like it did with former SVP Prakash Sikaria, now the founder of super.money, a credit-first UPI fintech platform that operates under Flipkart’s wing.

Flipkart’s Playbook: Incubating Startups In-House

This approach of nurturing startups internally isn’t new for Flipkart. Over the years, the company has become synonymous with spawning entrepreneurial talent and seeding new-age ventures that later scale up independently.

Take PhonePe, for example. Founded in 2015 by former Flipkart employees Sameer Nigam, Burzin Engineer, and Rahul Chari, PhonePe was acquired by Flipkart in 2016. The platform was incubated under Flipkart until it was spun off in 2022 and now eyes a public listing with a valuation exceeding $15 billion.

Similarly, super.money, launched in 2022 by Sikaria, was born after the senior executive shelved his plans to exit Flipkart. The app, designed to tap into India’s fintech boom with a credit-first UPI model, has scaled rapidly and is currently in talks to raise between $60 to $100 million at a valuation of $1 billion—possibly becoming another unicorn created under Flipkart’s watch.

If Vijayvergiya’s new venture follows this trajectory, Flipkart could soon be nurturing another billion-dollar startup within its group.

Why Flipkart is Known as India's 'Startup Factory'

What makes Flipkart unique is not just its dominance in e-commerce but its deep-rooted culture of entrepreneurship. Since its founding in 2007 by Sachin and Binny Bansal, Flipkart has evolved into a cradle of innovation and talent development. This has led to the emergence of a powerful network dubbed the "Flipkart Mafia"—a group of former employees who have gone on to launch their own startups, many of which are now shaping India’s tech and business landscape.

To date, 44 startups have been founded by former Flipkart employees, spanning sectors like e-commerce, fintech, health tech, SaaS, media, and HR tech. Notably, six of these have crossed the coveted unicorn status, with valuations exceeding $1 billion:

• PhonePe ($12 billion)

• Groww ($3 billion)

• Udaan ($1.75 billion)

• Spinny ($1.55 billion)

• cult.fit ($1.3 billion)

• Slice ($1.3 billion)

Among the Flipkart alumni-turned-entrepreneurs, many credit the company’s dynamic work culture, risk-taking environment, and mentorship from the Bansals for instilling the confidence to branch out on their own.

The Power of ESOPs: A Silent Catalyst

A crucial element in Flipkart's startup-seeding legacy is its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). During major ESOP buyback rounds in 2017 and 2018, Flipkart infused significant capital into the hands of employees, enabling many to use this windfall to fund their entrepreneurial dreams.

These ESOP buybacks acted as a catalytic event, triggering waves of startup formations by former employees. The timing was serendipitous—capital, ambition, and startup ideas converged to fuel what would become a self-sustaining cycle of innovation.

The Flipkart Model: A New Trend in Corporate India?

Flipkart’s model of allowing senior employees to spin off companies from within is increasingly being seen as a strategic masterstroke. It allows the company to retain top talent, incubate innovation without losing control, and potentially generate returns from these ventures in the long run.

In an environment where large companies often fear talent attrition to startups, Flipkart has flipped the script: why let them leave when you can let them build?

As Walmart pushes Flipkart to cut its monthly burn rate from $40 million to $20 million in anticipation of a future IPO, such internal innovations may prove to be high-leverage moves. They foster entrepreneurship without requiring the kind of capital-heavy bets traditional corporate innovation labs often demand.

What’s Next?

With Ashish Vijayvergiya now at the helm of Flipkart’s newest in-house venture, the startup ecosystem is watching closely. Will it be a gaming platform? A content-commerce hybrid? Or something else entirely? Details are expected in the coming months, but one thing is certain—Flipkart’s role as India’s Startup Factory is far from over.

From an e-commerce disruptor to a breeding ground for unicorns, Flipkart continues to reinvent not just its business, but the very idea of corporate entrepreneurship in India.