FedEx Invests $100 Mn In Logistics Startup Delhivery Ahead Of IPO

Logistics and supply chain company Delhivery has raised $100 Mn from FedEx at a valuation of $3 Bn. 

As part of the agreement, FedEx Express will enter into a long-term commercial pact with SoftBank-backed Delhivery. While FedEx Express will focus on international export and import services to and from India, Delhivery will, in addition to FedEx, sell FedEx Express international products and services in India and provide pick-up and delivery services across the country.

“Our aim is to bring new products and opportunities to Indian and global businesses and consumers through unique access to our networks, and our technology and engineering capabilities,” said Delhivery cofounder Sahil Barua.

The funding comes a month after the Gurgaon-headquartered startup raised $277 Mn in funding led by US based Fidelity and Singapore’s GIC taking the total funds raised to $1.2 Bn. 

The company entered the unicorn club in 2019, after raising $413 Mn from SoftBank and other investors. It has raised about $1.2 Bn to date (including this round) from investors such as Nexus Venture Partners, Multiples, CPP Investment Board and others. Its last funding round was in December 2020 when it raised $25 Mn from Steadview Capital for secondary shares, according to Crunchbase.

Delhivery was founded by Mohit Tandon, Sahil Barua, Bhavesh Manglani, Kapil Bharati and Suraj Saharan in 2011. It provides a full suite of logistics services such as express parcel transportation, LTL and FTL freight, reverse logistics, cross-border, B2B & B2C warehousing and technology services. Its platform connects consigners, agents and truckers offering road transport solutions.The company claims to have fulfilled over 850 Mn transactions since its inception and works with over 10,000 direct customers. 

Similar to the recent Zomato IPO, Delhivery has been trying to go public for the last two years, but plans for the same in 2019 coincided with the Indian general elections. Currently, it is aiming to go public in the domestic market between December 2021 and March 2022, the startup’s chief executive officer Sahil Barua told Economic Times recently. The logistics firm is planning to raise around $400-$500Mn in the public offering scheduled towards the end of the year

Besides Delhivery, several other Indian companies are planning an IPO this year. These include InMobi, MobiKwik, Paytm, Ola, Grofers, PolicyBazaar, PhonePe and Lenskart.