Two senior executives at India's Flipkart leaving to launch own ventures

Two senior executives at India's Flipkart plan to leave, as the country's biggest e-commerce firm fights for market share with rivals including Amazon.com Inc and Snapdeal, backed by Japan's SoftBank Group.

Mukesh Bansal, the head of Flipkart's commerce platform, and chief business officer Ankit Nagori confirmed the development to Reuters. Both executives said they were leaving to start their own separate ventures.

Bansal said he would leave at the end of March while Nagori said he would be with the company over the next quarter.

Bansal founded Bengaluru-based Myntra, India's leading online fashion retailer, which was acquired by Flipkart in 2014. Nagori joined Flipkart in 2010 and helped launch new retail categories including media, games and fashion.

The departures came a month after a management restructuring at the company that saw co-founder Binny Bansal, former chief operating officer, become chief executive.

Flipkart, launched in 2007 by two former Amazon employees, sells everything from cellphones to suitcases and cosmetics. Current investors include Tiger Global Management and Accel Partners.

Flipkart and its rivals in India are betting on the millions in smaller towns turning to online shopping for products that are not available from local retailers, boosting growth as increasing numbers gain internet access.

However, fierce competition to win customers through deep discounting has led to mounting losses for Flipkart along with rivals Snapdeal and Amazon. Industry insiders say funding is also becoming harder to come by.

Flipkart said on its website Nagori was leaving to launch a sports start-up, and that the company's two co-founders would back his venture.