Flipkart Joins Hands With Polygon To Accelerate Web3 Adoption In India

Ecommerce major Flipkart has partnered with Ethereum Layer-2 scaling startup Polygon Companies to accelerate the adoption of Web3 India.

As part of the partnership, the companies will set up ‘Blockchain-eCommerce Centre of Excellence’ (CoE) which will work on research and development in the areas of Web3 and Metaverse commerce use-cases in the country.

“Innovation is one of the main pillars for Flipkart and we have consistently worked towards technology solutions to scale new frontiers and introduce new products and services,” Jeyandran Venugopal, chief product and technology officer at Flipkart, said.

With the CoE, the ecommerce company aims to leverage Polygon’s expertise and technical know-how to successfully onboard users not just to the value proposition of Web3 or Metaverse commerce but also Web3 in general, he added.

“Polygon’s mission is to bring the next billion users to Web3 and this partnership will pioneer research and development at the intersection of Web3 and experiential retail which will advance adoption and impact in India and across the world. We see the Blockchain-ecommerce Centre of Excellence as an engine for the evolution of e-commerce in the years to come,” Sandeep Nailwal, cofounder of Polygon, said.

Web3 incorporates concepts such as decentralisation, blockchain technologies, and token-based economics, especially the realm of NFTs and digital collectibles, which have evolved significantly in recent years, with brands finding new avenues to create value for themselves and their users.

Earlier in October, Flipkart launched its Metaverse-based virtual shopping experience, Flipverse. Flipverse is available on Flipkart’s newly launched platform, FireDrops, which can be accessed from the ecommerce platform’s app.

Flipkart also said that Flipverse will offer gamified, interactive and immersive shopping experiences for consumers in a digital world by giving them access to their favourite brands, SuperCoins and digital collectibles.

Earlier this year, Flipkart launched Flipkart Labs, a new initiative to test out Web3 technology and use cases for ecommerce.

The last few years have seen the emergence of Web3 startups like Autify, Samudai and Glip in the country, while a number of legacy companies like TCS, Infosys have also started using Web3 technologies.

The government is also positive about the potential of Web3. Recently, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Web3 utilities like blockchain, AI, and cloud computing will give accountants an advantage. Besides, Web3 will also change the way financial information is handled.

In a recent interview with Inc42, MoS for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar dismissed the notion that there is any delay in the country when it comes to policy for the Web3 space. He said that no law in the country stops Web3 or crypto startups from innovating and the government welcomes all such investors and startups.