Walmart unit Flipkart sets up Israel R&D center

Walmart Photo: Reuters
Walmart Photo: Reuters

The Indian e-commerce company's Tel Aviv center will focus on cybersecurity, cloud computing and data protection, and scout for investments.

Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart, which is owned by US retail giant Walmart, is setting up an R&D center in Israel to focus on cybersecurity, cloud computing and data protection, according to India's "ETTech.". The new center will also scout for acquisitions in the country.

Flipkart said that it is hiring a new management team for the center, which will be based on last September's acquisition of Tel Aviv-based Upstream Commerce. Flipkart acquired the cloud-based, automated competitive pricing and product analysis solutions company for an estimated $30 million.

"ETTech" reports that Flipkart SVP, engineering Jeyandran Venugopal will oversee a relatively small operation.

“Our team in Israel is highly talented and we are also looking forward to making Israel one of our excellence centers to do cutting-edge data science work,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement to "ETTech."

Flipkart's move comes amid growing interest in Israel by Walmart as it seeks to compete with online retail rival Amazon. Last week Walmart CEO Doug McMillon led a senior delegation of the company's executives to Israel and in February Walmart acquired Tel Aviv-based AI company Aspectiva.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 2, 2019

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2019

Walmart Photo: Reuters
Walmart Photo: Reuters
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