Logistics Unicorn Xpressbees Secures $80 Mn Funding From Teachers’ Venture Growth

Logistics unicorn Xpressbees has secured $80 Mn from Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), the late-stage venture and growth investment arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. This marks Ontario Teachers’ first investment in India from the TVG arm.

The logistics major will utilise the funding to help drive further growth for the Xpressbees platform. This announcement comes after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) gave its nod to the Ontario Teachers’ Fund’s proposal last month to acquire a minority stake in the logistics giant.

Amitava Saha, founder and CEO of Xpressbees said, “We believe the logistics sector is at the cusp of technological disruption and this is the right time to expand service offerings to address the growing needs of businesses and consumers. We are elated to partner with the TVG team who bring rich experience and a vast global network which will help  as we scale our end-to-end platform to cater to the next level.”

Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG) focuses on late-stage venture and growth equity investments in tech companies globally. TVG is part of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.

Kelvin Yu, senior managing director, Teachers’ Venture Growth, said “Xpressbees aligns with our TVG thesis for Asia, of partnering with exceptional management teams looking to leverage technology to accelerate growth in an attractive end market that has a long runway for innovation and development. India is a critical market for our TVG Asia strategy, where we look to lead or co-lead rounds, and Xpressbees is a culmination of one such proprietary opportunity.”

Xpressbees, founded in 2015 after being spun off from ecommerce giant FirstCry, delivers goods to over 20K pin codes in the country. The logistics startup entered the coveted unicorn club in January 2022 after raising $300 Mn from Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth, among others.

The startup offers supply chain solutions, including B2B, B2C express delivery service, cross-border logistics, and warehousing services, to ecommerce players.

Xpressbees reported a net loss of INR 180.4 Cr in FY23, an increase of 566% from INR 27.1 Cr in FY22. The Supam Maheswari-led startup’s operating revenue grew 33% to INR 2,531.5 Cr during the year under review from INR 1,904.4 Cr in FY22.

Meanwhile, Indian startups raised about $8.3 Bn from January to October 2023, nearly matching the $8.7 Bn raised during the same period in 2020, as per Inc42 analysis.