OCTOBER 20258THOW RETAIL GIANTS ARE BECOMING SILENT CO-FOUNDERS OF e-COMMERCE STARTUPS Columnhere is a strategic shift in the e-Commerce ecosystem of India, with the traditional retail giants such as Reliance, Flipkart and Aditya Birla Group shifting away to be mere spectators and instead to act as silent co-founders of the newly born startups. These conglomerates are not merely contributing capital, but actively influencing the direction of growth of fledgling digital-first enterprises by bringing their operational capabilities, distribution channels and brand equity to bear on the direction of growth. "There is now greater confidence in the fundamentals of the companies getting created. If you look at traditional Indian businesses from the last few decades like Asian Paints, HDFC Bank or Titan, they have compounded year after year, decade after decade, this is for the first time, we feel that there are some companies in our technology ecosystem that can reach that level of maturity", says Mukul Arora, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Elevation Capital. Recent moves highlight this trend: in June 2025, Flipkart sold a 6 percent stake in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL) worth 588 crore, which was part of a wider portfolio rearrangement, marking a major change in the e-commerce space in India.This follows the 2020 acquisition of a 7.8 percent stake in ABFRL by Flipkart, in exchange of 1,500 crores, in a move that will enhance the omni-channel capabilities and digital presence of ABFRL. Meanwhile, to scale its digital first lifestyle brands, Aditya Birla Group venture arm, TMRW, has invested 290 crore in eight of them. Likewise, the GenNext Ventures of the Reliance is
< Page 7 | Page 9 >