in october 2007, bansal and his co-founder, binny bansal, started an online bookstore, flipkart, with an initial capital of ₹400,000 (us$5,600). for about 18 months they received ₹10,000 every month as allowance from their parents. they first started operating out of an apartment in koramangala, in bangalore, india. in the first few months, according to bansal's own claims, he oversaw all business details, from building the first version of their website to sourcing book to packing and delivering them. from inception until 2016, bansal held the position of chief executive officer and from 2016 until 2018, he held the position of executive chairman. in 2018, bansal signed a non-compete clause with walmart and exited flipkart. the non-compete clause restricted bansal from starting any business that directly or indirectly competed with flipkart for 18 months and in making any investments in businesses competing with flipkart for 36 months from his departure.