Sachin Bansal to be CEO again? Flipkart co-founder in talks to acquire Bengaluru-based firm: Report

Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal is reportedly in talks to acquire a majority stake in a Bengaluru-based microfinance firm. According to a report by The Economic Times, if the deal is successfully closed, Bansal might even end up taking the top job at the firm, marking his return to the executive position. The report quoted sources saying that Bansal is expected to take as much as 75 per cent stake in Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services, which runs a microfinance institution, Chaitanya India Fin Credit (CIFCPL). It added that Bansal is keen to explore opportunities at the intersection of technology and user experiences in the banking domain."Bansal could take up the role of the company's CEO once the transaction goes through," as source was quoted as saying.

Bansal has been a busy man since quitting Flipkart after Walmart picked up 77 per cent stake in the Indian e-commerce company for $16 billion. He invested Rs 650 crore ($92 million) in ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which operates cab-hailing application Ola. It was Bansal's largest investment and also accounted as the largest financing by an individual in Ola to date. The investment was made in a personal capacity and is part of Ola's larger Series J funding round, providing Bansal Rs 150 crore worth of share issues in January and values the Bengaluru firm at around $6.5 billion.

In less than two months after injecting money into Ola, Bansal backed scooter rental platforms Vogo and Bounce with $3-4 million debt investment in each firm. The investment was said to be part of money management exercise by Bansal holding firm BAC Acquisition. The company was founded by Bansal and his IITD batchmate Ankit Agarwal, former Director at Bank of America.

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Bansal had also lent Rs 500 crore to NBFCs Altico and Indostar.

Sachin's Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has also been investing in other ventures. Earlier this year, online insurance startup Acko General Insurance had raised $65 million from Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, RPS Ventures led by Kabir Misra (former Softbank Managing Partner), and a new investor Intact Ventures which is the corporate venture arm of Canada's largest property and casualty insurer Intact Insurance.

Meanwhile, Walmart-owned Flipkart’s CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy has invested in Ratan Tata-backed B2B e-commerce portal Moglix, Mukesh Bansal’s CureFit, Tiger Global-backed NestAway, Sequoia-backed edtech startup Unacademy and Urbanclap.