Was extremely unhappy after exiting Flipkart as it was unplanned: Sachin Bansal

Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal, who sold off his entire stake in the Bengaluru-based ecommerce firm in 2018, said that he was “extremely unhappy” after the exit and that he left the venture with “unfinished business”.

“(Paytm CEO) Vijay and I talked extensively after I exited Flipkart, and he jokingly said that you are the most unhappy billionaire I’ve ever seen. I was extremely unhappy after exiting because it was not something I had planned… it just happened,” Bansal said on Friday, speaking on a panel at the Startup Mahakumbh.

In 2018, Bansal and his cofounder Binny Bansal sold their stakes in Flipkart to the US retailer Walmart. While Sachin Bansal exited soon, Binny fully exited the firm in 2023.


The duo cofounded Flipkart in 2007 as an online bookstore. Sachin served as CEO for nine years before transitioning to chairman in January 2016, when Binny took over as CEO.

Under Sachin Bansal, many of Flipkart's strategies backfired, including going mobile-app only and shifting to a marketplace model from an inventory-led one. He then took a backseat from everyday operations at the company. After Walmart became the largest investor, there were disagreements between the company board and him over strategy.

According to a Times of India report a miffed Sachin believed that the company had stopped investing in the long term and was focusing on sale events to drum up growth.

He made about $1 billion after selling his entire shareholding. After leaving Flipkart, he launched Navi, a financial services startup.

“The goal was to take the platform that I created, or helped create, to a billion people at a large scale even globally over time. That’s an unfinished business that I'm still pursuing,” Bansal said.

Fintech pains

Navi is planning to go public in the second half of this financial year.

“It’s (fintech) a very different ball game altogether... is what I've realised over time. In most industries, you worry about customers, competition, investors, employees... but in fintech, the regulator becomes an important stakeholder. Sometimes depending on the situation, they (regulator) can become the most important stakeholder in the equation at the detriment of customers or employees,” Bansal said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had imposed a ban on Navi in October 2024, citing concerns over excessive pricing and significant markups over funding costs.

The RBI found that Navi's pricing policies and interest spreads did not align with regulatory standards. The ban was lifted in December after the company addressed the concerns through multiple rounds of rectification discussions with the regulator.

“If the regulations keep changing quickly, which has been the case in India for the last couple of years for all regulators, new stuff will come at you at a very fast speed and you have to constantly deal with it. It’s like getting punched in a boxing ring and keep going at it. But if you don’t mind the pain then it’s very rewarding,” Bansal said.