Shadowfax Rolls Out AI-Backed Address Intelligence System For Seamless Deliveries

With an eye on expanding its services, especially across the intercity operations, logistics services startup ShadowFax has rolled out an AI-backed address intelligence system designed to boost accuracy and efficiency in deliveries.

SF Maps will help delivery partners navigate and find customer locations more accurately, especially in areas with complex or unclear addressing, the company said in a statement.

It further added that the mapping system predicts customer locations with over 90% accuracy within 100 metres of the intended destination. The system uses an AI/ML model trained on 1.5 Bn data points from the company’s past deliveries and pickups.

Vaibhav Khandelwal, chief technology officer at Shadowfax, said, “SF Maps uses an AI model trained on our vast set of historical delivery data that drives significant operational efficiencies for us.”

The system reduced customer cancellations by 10% and increased net promoter score by 25%.

SF Maps uses an in-house artificial neural network (ANN)-based embedding model, trained using a Siamese Network architecture. The system self-corrects using real-time delivery partner geolocations captured every 5 seconds, the company further said.

Shadowfax was founded in 2015 by Khandelwal, Abhishek Bansal, Praharsh Chandra and Gaurav Jaithliya. It operates in more than 2,500 cities and 18,000 pin codes, delivering 2 Mn packages daily. 

This comes four months after Shadowfax raised $100 Mn (INR 828.78 Cr) as a part of its Series E funding round led by TPG NewQuest, with participation from existing investors like Mirae Asset Venture Investments (India), Flipkart, International Finance Corporation, Nokia Growth Partners, Qualcomm and Trifecta Capital. The round also gave a partial exit to the startup’s first institutional investor from 2015, Eight Roads Ventures.

Earlier in May, Shadowfax expanded its ESOP pool by adding 20,299 equity shares worth INR 61.9 Cr. The total ESOP 2016 plan, comprising 86,033 options, is now worth INR 263.5 Cr.

In December last year, Shadowfax launched Flash, an on-demand delivery app offering last-mile delivery solutions within 30 minutes in more than 50 cities.

The company reported a net loss of INR 142.63 Cr in FY23, down 19% year-on-year, while total income rose 42% to INR 1,423 Cr.

Shadowfax competes with logistics companies like Delhivery, Ecom Express, XpressBees, Blue Dart, Gati, Rivigo, and DTDC. 

These companies use various mapping solutions including geospatial technology, pin code mapping, AI-driven navigation, and route optimization algorithms. 

Shadowfax’s SF Maps stands out for its use of Artificial Neural Networks and real-time data integration to handle India’s complex addressing system.