Logistics Unicorn Delhivery Acquires Retail Tech Primaseller

SUMMARY

Primaseller allows small businesses to manage their inventory and orders across online and offline channels

The acquisition will help Delhivery to become an operating system for commerce in India

Delhivery is looking to go public this year to raise $800 Mn at a valuation of $3.2 Bn to $4 Bn

Gurugram-based logistics unicorn Delhivery has acquired a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform Primaseller, which allows small businesses to manage their inventory and orders across online and offline channels.

The acquisition of Primaseller would help Delhivery to strengthen its long-term vision of becoming an operating system for commerce in India. “This development will help us bolster our technical capabilities and stay ahead of the curve, given that technology has and continues to be our core business differentiator,” Delhivery CTO and cofounder Kapil Bharati added.

Bengaluru-based Primaseller was founded by Mohammed Ali and Vivek Subramanian in 2013. The company has raised an undisclosed sum from multiple investors like M&S Partners, Mumbai Angels, Dr Aniruddha Malpani, Solidarity Advisors’ Manish Gupta, US-based tech entrepreneur Kishore Ganji and NeoBytes Software Solutions’ cofounder Ananda Kallugadde.

The platform’s target audience is retailers, who wish to take an omnichannel approach to boost their sales. Primaseller allows retailers to manage their orders across multiple locations and platforms with key integrations like Amazon, eBay, Shopify, Australia Post, DHL, FedEx, UPS, United States Postal Services and more.

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. The company claims to have fulfilled over 850 Mn transactions since its inception and works with over 10,000 direct customers.

The logistics company has raised $959.6 Mn till date from marquee investors including SoftBank, Fosun International, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Steadview. It entered the unicorn club in 2019 after raising $413 Mn from SoftBank and other investors, at a valuation of $1.6 Bn. The company is now looking to go for an initial public offering (IPO) this year at a valuation of $3.2-4 Bn. It is reportedly planning to raise $800 Mn through the public listing.

In the financial year 2019-20 (FY20), Delhivery managed to cut its loss by 6.8x or INR 1,500 Cr ($206 Mn, at current conversion rate), from INR 1,781 Cr ($244 Mn) in FY19 to INR 284.13 Cr ($39 Mn). The company also increased its revenue by 74%, from INR 1,695 Cr ($232 Mn) to INR 2,986.4 Cr ($410 Mn) in the same time frame.