Flipkart’s senior exits and ESOP liquidity concerns are adding to its IPO uncertainty as Walmart pushes for profitability while the ecommerce giant continues investing in quick commerce and food delivery.
Questions over an IPO and ESOPs, huge investments in quick commerce and food delivery and the pressure to deliver profits: Flipkart
is juggling one too many hot potatoes for the past year.
In that time, the ecommerce giant has seen 14 senior level exits, including three more VPs who are set to leave the company next.
The latest executives to leave are Kanchan Mishra, VP of smartphones; Amit Sachan, VP of product and tech; and Kamal Chopra, VP of corporate, as Moneycontrol reported. While Mishra spent more than a decade at Flipkart, Sachan and Chopra have been with the company for four and five years, respectively.
As their tenure shows these are not employees who had just joined the company one or two years ago in the wake of all the IPO talk. These were executives who had seen much of the restructuring at Flipkart in the post-pandemic years.
Plus, these departures come at a time when the company’s employees have raised concerns over ESOP liquidity and the company’s long-awaited IPO remains without a firm timeline. It has coloured these exits with a darker tint as a result.
Walmart has reportedly asked the company to prioritise profitability before going public, while the expansion of its quick commerce business, Flipkart Minutes, requires significant ongoing investments. Employees holding stock options, meanwhile, are waiting for an opportunity to cash out.
Sources told Inc42 that some of these executives left as they were unable to see a clear opportunity to liquidate their ESOPs, while others moved to new jobs or wanted to start their own ventures. It must be noted that at this middle management level, Flipkart has around 30 executives in VP roles and more than a dozen senior vice presidents, so these departures will not necessarily destabilise the company, but it is a sign of bubbling discontent.
In fact, sources told us that the frustration over stock options has moved beyond internal discussions, with former senior executives approaching Walmart’s board to seek a fair opportunity to realise the value of their vested ESOPs.
Earlier this month, former Flipkart executives, including ex-Myntra CEO Mukesh Bansal, former chief business officer Ankit Nagori and former CFO Sanjay Baweja, wrote to Walmart’s board seeking fair treatment and a full cash-out opportunity for their vested options simply because they left the company.
The issue has gained importance because an IPO has long been seen as a potential exit route for employees holding Flipkart shares or options. With the listing pushed back, those employees have little clarity on when they can realise that value.
For senior executives who have spent a year at Flipkart, the delay also affects decisions about whether to stay or pursue opportunities elsewhere. While ESOP liquidity is one reason behind some departures, the company’s leadership churn is also a result of executives moving into new roles or setting up their own ventures.
The founder of a unicorn startup with over 30,000 employees told us that while Flipkart has the responsibility of providing liquidity to employees, listing in a hurry to meet these demands would be a mistake.
“At the end of the day, Flipkart’s management and Walmart have to do the right thing by the company. If they have already done a $50 Mn ESOP buy back last year, then they already provided some liquidity opportunity. If an employee has already made ₹10 Cr – ₹15 Cr through that, then they need to give the company some more time for the next event. But if an employee who has made a few lakhs of rupees via the buyback is upset, then the management needs to address that. What’s the point of listing in a rush, without getting a good market value?” the founder said on the condition of anonymity.
The fact is that Flipkart’s listing plans have been discussed for years, but the immediate priority appears to be improving its financial performance.
In May 2026, Moneycontrol reported that parent Walmart wanted Flipkart to achieve EBITDA breakeven by the end of FY27 before considering an IPO or another external fundraise. The report said the decision followed Walmart CEO John Furner’s visit to Bengaluru.
The reported directive adds another hurdle for a company that completed its reverse flip from Singapore to India in March 2026, ahead of a potential domestic listing.
There is the looming valuation question. Flipkart currently commands a valuation of $35 Bn – $36 Bn and earlier was eyeing a valuation of $50 Bn.
This valuation expectation complicates finding the right window for the listing. Walmart can afford to wait for improved financial performance which would justify the valuation, but that’s not the case with employees seeking liquidity.
“In a current situation, getting a $50 Bn valuation will be extremely difficult. It is indeed a tricky position for the company,” the founder quoted above added.
Others believe that Flipkart cannot go into an IPO with the narrative of a growth-at-all-costs tech startup. The company is far too mature for this. “Flipkart will likely face pushback and could be forced into a valuation haircut to land in the $25B–$30 Bn range. This will match global tech-retail multiples,” Rahul Sharma, Head of Research at Equity99 said.
On the other hand, the company can position itself as a disciplined, maturing omnichannel ecosystem. “A concrete roadmap to profitability can successfully defend the $35 Bn mark that Flipkart is said to be seeking,” he added.
The delay is particularly striking because other Indian ecommerce companies have already reached the public markets. Meesho listed on the NSE and BSE on December 10, 2025, following a ₹5,421 Cr IPO. Snapdeal’s parent, AceVector, listed on October 5, 2026, after a ₹420 Cr public issue.
Their listing gives investors a way to set benchmarks for ecommerce, while Flipkart continues to work towards its own debut. However, the comparison also shows that going public does guarantee a strong market reception. AceVector shares listed at an issue price of ₹32 and subsequently traded below that level.
For Flipkart, the question is whether stronger financial performance can support its valuation expectations without forcing the company to slow its growth plans.
The push to improve profitability comes amid Flipkart’s aggressive investments in quick commerce.
Flipkart Minutes has expanded its dark store network to compete with Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto. The business gives Flipkart a way to serve customers looking for rapid delivery of groceries, electronics and other everyday products.
However, the expansion requires spending on dark stores, inventory, fulfillment and delivery operations. New stores need time to build order volumes and improve their economics. Until a store reaches sufficient throughput, its operating costs can weigh on the business. Flipkart Minutes has scaled to 1,000 micro fulfillment centers across 130+ cities and 8,000+ pincodes in under two years.
The current scale of Minutes’ spending is not publicly disclosed. However, its expansion presents a challenge for Flipkart as Walmart reportedly seeks EBITDA breakeven before an IPO.
Now, Flipkart is preparing to enter another competitive market with its food delivery service branded eat-in by Minutes. Currently available for its 8,000 employees, will soon be available to the public by the end of this month.
The food delivery business could add to Flipkart’s spending requirements. The company reportedly will use a dedicated delivery fleet through its logistics arm Ekart.
Moreover, it will also require onboard restaurants and attract customers in a market where established players spend on discounts, promotions and customer acquisition. These costs could build before the service reaches sufficient order volumes to support its operations.
The launch puts Flipkart in the position of investing in two businesses that require scale to improve their economics, even as Walmart reportedly wants the group to reach EBITDA breakeven before an IPO. While food delivery could bring more frequent customer visits to Flipkart’s app, it will also require spending to compete with established platforms.
Flipkart’s financial performance will also remain under scrutiny as it works towards a potential IPO.
The Flipkart Group reported an 18.2% YoY increase in consolidated revenue from operation to ₹1.45 Lakh Cr in FY26, compared with ₹1.23 Lakh Cr in FY25. Its consolidated net loss narrowed marginally by 2.1% to ₹8,468 Cr from ₹8,646 Cr in the previous year. The financial results cover the wider Flipkart Group, including Myntra, Cleartrip, logistics, and other business, rather than the ecommerce marketplace alone.
The group said its gross margins rose 23% during FY26, while adjusted EBITDA improved by around ₹1,500 Cr. Adjusted operating margin improved by 230 basis points, from -7.7% to -5.4%, while adjusted operating business losses narrowed by 17%, or around ₹1,600 Cr.
However, the improvement in operating performance translated into only a modest reduction in net loss. Higher finance cost, the recognition of deferred tax assets and certain exceptional items weighed on the bottom line.
The ecommerce vertical, Flipkart Internet, reported a 19.3% YoY decline in revenue from operations to ₹16,295 Cr in FY26. Its net loss rose to ₹5,498 Cr from ₹1,694 Cr in FY25. A significant portion of that is likely due to the redomiciling to India which was completed in March 2026.
As Flipkart works on its public market plans, the combination of profitability targets, valuation expectations and employee concerns over stock liquidity is likely to remain in focus. For senior executives weighing their next move, the absence of a firm IPO timeline leaves questions unanswered: when will the equity they have accumulated at Flipkart become liquid wealth?
Edited By Nikhil Subramaniam
Creatives: Abhyam Gusai
Source: Inc42
