Amazon's India Rival, Flipkart, Changes CEOs

In a move that has been rumored for some time, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal has stepped down as CEO of the Indian e-commerce company, the company announced today. He will be replaced by his co-founder, Binny Bansal (no relation).

Sachin Bansal will become executive chairman and “mentor the senior leadership of the company and look for new investment opportunities,” the company said in the announcement. Binny Bansal, formerly chief operating officer, will now run the business day to day.

The move comes as competition for market share in India’s burgeoning online shopping industry has ramped up between Amazon, Flipkart and fellow Indian upstart Snapdeal. Amazon has promised to invest billions into its India business, which is run by Amit Agarwal, who spent two years earlier in his career working as Jeff Bezos’s right-hand man.

Snapdeal has raised more than $1.5 billion from investors such as Alibaba and SoftBank and is trying to build an ecosystem of commerce brands that focus on all different types of online transactions. Flipkart, for its part, has raised more than $3 billion and is valued at $15 billion. It has been the clear leader in market share for many years in India, but has been feeling the hit from both of its big competitors in the last year.

Flipkart did not announce a reason for the change, but we will update this post if we can dig up more info.