Flipkart Foundation to Support Development in Socio-Economic Areas in India

New Delhi: The Flipkart Group, India’s homegrown internet ecosystem, today announced that it has constituted and launched the Flipkart Foundation with a vision to facilitate an inclusive, equitable, empowered, and sustainable society in India. The Foundation will carry forward Flipkart Group’s efforts towards bringing opportunities for ecosystem partners and convenience to stakeholders through a technology-led digital commerce model. This will enable it to drive inclusive growth with a mission to drive grass-root level, at-scale and institutionalised impact for sustainable livelihoods and growth opportunities in India for the underprivileged.

 The Foundation was formally launched in New Delhi by the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Dr Virendra Kumar, the Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, and the Minister of State for Rural Development and Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Smt. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, in the presence of Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Flipkart Group, and Krishna Raghavan, Chief People Officer, Flipkart, among other senior officials from the government and Flipkart.

The Flipkart Foundation aims to drive transformational work by collaborating with diverse stakeholders across government organisations, NGOs, and community leaders across four key areas, namely:

• Market access to the underserved and underrepresented sections of society for sustained growth opportunities for entrepreneurship and livelihood opportunities
• Skill development
• community development, and
• Environmental Responsibility

With a focus on rural areas and providing equitable access to growth opportunities for women and other disadvantaged communities, the Flipkart Foundation aims to positively impact 20 million lives directly and indirectly in the next decade.

Speaking at the launch event, Dr Virendra Kumar, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, said, "While India is full of opportunities, there is a need to drive equitable growth. To help drive this, it is important for businesses to offer support to underprivileged sections of society to make them a part of the country’s growth story. Our Prime Minister’s vision of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas aims to bring the government and industry on a common platform to work harmoniously towards achieving prosperity for all. Organizations like the Flipkart Group play an important role in this endeavour, and the launch of the Flipkart Foundation is a decisive step in this direction to create widespread social impact."

Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Flipkart, said, "With a vision of building a New India together, the Flipkart Foundation is our commitment to engage with diverse stakeholders to enable transformational development work for society and the economy. The Foundation will address several critical societal concerns, ranging from art and craft revival to employment opportunities for the underserved and disaster relief, all aimed at driving inclusive development and contributing to nation-building. We have set audacious targets for the Foundation and aim to influence 20 million lives directly and indirectly in the coming decade across a wide array of areas by utilising our learning over the years."

The Flipkart Foundation’s operations are grant-based, with contributions from the Flipkart Group and through the "Charity Checkout" feature available on Flipkart platforms, which provides an easy and seamless way for philanthropic giving.

The establishment of the Foundation is in line with the Flipkart Group’s continuing efforts toward nation-building by supporting livelihoods through direct and indirect employment creation and opportunities enabled by its technology and innovation-driven marketplace for lakhs of MSMEs, sellers, and artisans, along with infrastructure development through its supply chain and other group services and offerings.