Flipkart Shuts ANS Commerce 3 Years After Its Acquisition

Flipkart has decided to shut its full-stack ecommerce enabler ANS Commerce, three years after its acquisition.

The Bengaluru-based ecommerce giant acquired the D2C-focussed SaaS platform in 2022 to strengthen its ecommerce playbook.

The development was first reported by Entrackr. The publication said that Flipkart has laid off “several employees”, associated with ANS Commerce.

Flipkart confirmed in a statement that it has decided to shut ANS Commerce. “After careful consideration, ANS Commerce, a full-stack e-commerce enabler that was acquired by Flipkart in 2022, has decided to close its operations. As we wind down operations, we stay committed to ensuring a smooth transition for all stakeholders, including employees and customers,” a Flipkart spokesperson said.

Flipkart said it plans to minimise the impact on the SaaS startup’s employees by offering internal opportunities to them as well as outplacement services and severance packages. The shuttered vertical reportedly employed 110 people.

Founded in 2017 by Amit Monga, Nakul Singh, Sushant Puri, and Vibhor Sahare, ANS Commerce helped businesses set up digital storefronts, integrate with marketplaces including Flipkart and Amazon, manage marketplace, ecommerce warehousing, and fulfillment.

ANS Commerce claims to have fulfilled more than 6 Lakh orders before it shut shop and served brands such as Razorpay, Arvind Fashions, Unicommerce, FedEx, Delhivery, Paytm, PhonePe and others.

Prior to the acquisition, ANS Commerce raised $2.2 Mn in its pre-Series A round co-led by angel investor Gokul Rajaram and Venture Catalysts in 2021. The Delhi NCR-based startup added 100Unicorns and angel investors such as Kunal Shah of CRED and Kunal Bahl of Snapdeal on its cap table.

The development comes on the heels of Flipkart lining up plans to list on Indian bourses. The ecommerce giant is looking to get listed on the bourses in the next 12 to 18 months. As part of its IPO drive, the company has been rejigging its top leadership, trimming cash burn and restructuring operations.

With this, ANS Commerce has become the latest Indian startup to bite the dust. Earlier this month, Ashneer Grover-led cricket fantasy league platform CrickPe also halted its operations, within just two years of its launch amid growing uncertainty around GST for real-money gaming platforms.

As per Inc42 data, as many as 12 startups shut operations in 2024 despite raising millions in funding and big names on their cap table.