Accel Partners reveals why it invested in Flipkart at a time it had no backers.

Monumental! That’s how Accel Partners described portfolio company Flipkart’s $16 Billion acquisition by US retail giant Walmart Inc. The venture capital firm also called itself a “stalwart supporter” of Flipkarts’s founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in a blog that traced Accel’s journey with the country’s most valuable startup.

Accel wrote Flipkart’s first big cheque -$800,000 in seed apital back in 2008- and also went on to invest more than $100 million in subsequent rounds. While Accel has not sold all of its shareholding in Flipkart, which is worth around $1 Billion, the partial exit will still rank among its best exits.

Its first investment in Flipkart came at a time when the Bengaluru based startup was struggling to raise money. Big players like Sequoia Capital had passed the opportunity to invest several times. 

A similar opportunity is around now.