Sachin Bansal is now a CEO again. Here’s a look at his investments since his Flipkart exit

• Bansal has just bought a majority stake in CRIDS and has taken over as CEO.
• He had sold his 5.5% stake for $1 billion in Flipkart’s sale to Walmart.
• He has gone on to make several investments in the Indian startup ecosystem.

Flipkart founder and former CEO Sachin Bansal is now back as a CEO again. After months of speculation over his next possible venture in the financial services segment, Bansal bought a majority stake in CRIDS and took over as CEO.

Bansal exited from Flipkart after its $16 billion acquisition by global retail giant Walmart in 2018. He sold his 5.5% stake for $1 billion.

In a note that he released right after his exit from the company he had built for 10 years, Bansal had said that he would spend time on ‘pending projects, gaming and brushing up his coding skills’.

While he made personal investments even while running Flipkart, he later founded a firm called BAC Acquisitions.

Here's a look at all of his investments since his much-talked about exit from Flipkart.

CRIDS

Bansal picked up a majority stake in Bengaluru-based microfinance company Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services (CRIDS). According to ET, the former Flipkart CEO bought a 94% stake in the company. While he took over the role of CEO, Bansal in a statement called it, his ‘entry into financial services’.

Ola

His first investment after Flipkart and also his biggest, was a $21 million investment into cab hailing unicorn Ola. Bansal’s investment fetched him 70,588 series J preferred shares at a price of ₹21, 250 per share.

boAt

He also made an offbeat investment in audio brand boAt, via BAC Acquisitions. The brand which is known for its affordable speakers, received ₹20 crores as a part of venture debt.

The three-year old boAt has already registered ₹100 crore revenue in FY'18 and is eyeing ₹500 crore in the next couple of years.

Piramal Enterprises

Bansal invested ₹200 crore in Piramal Enterprises’ debt, and subscribed to its non-convertible debentures (NCDs). Piramal Enterprises will infuse these new funds into its financial services sector.

Ather Energy

He has also invested in a Bengaluru-based electric bike startup, Ather Energy. While the amount invested is not known, he led the $51 million round. As an angel investor, Bansal earlier invested $0.5 million in the startup in 2014. The startup claims to be one of India’s first startups to manufacture electric vehicles. In June 2018, the startup’s first bike Ather 450 hit the market.

Vogo and Bounce

In April 2019, through his firm BAC Acquisitions, Bansal invested in scooter rental startups Vogo and Bounce. He Bansal had pumped in $3 million into each startup. Interestingly, Bansal’s other investment Ola had also pumped in a major $100 million into Vogo. With that, Vogo’s scooters are also listed on Ola for rental.

Bounce is also backed by Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners.

NBFCS

In February 2019, Bansal invested in two non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) – Altico Capital India and IndoStar Capital Finance.

In the same month, ET said that Bansal reportedly made queries at the Reserve Bank of India, to understand the regulations necessary to start a bank.

Meanwhile, in May 2019, Bansal joined Ujjivan Small Finance Bank as its independent director.