Xpressbees In Talks With Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board To Raise $100 Mn

SUMMARY

With the talks still in the early stages, the funds will likely go towards multiple purposes, including acquisitions

The startup was valued at $1.1 Bn in February 2022, when it bagged $300 Mn from Blackstone, TPG, ChrysCapital, and other investors

The report of likely funding has come nearly four months after Xpressbees raised $40 Mn from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, via a secondary sale

Third-party logistics startup Xpressbees is reportedly in talks with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board to raise $100 Mn to fuel its expansion plans.

Sources told The Economic Times that the pension investor is looking at picking up a stake in the startup at a valuation of $1.4 Bn. The startup was last valued at $1.1 Bn in February 2022, when it bagged $300 Mn in funding from Blackstone, TPG, ChrysCapital, and other investors.

As per the reports, the funds will likely go towards multiple purposes, including acquisitions. The talks are still in preliminary stages, and the contours of the deal could change.

The development comes nearly four months after the Pune-based company raised $40 Mn from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, via a secondary sale in April.

Founded in 2015 as a spin-off entity from kids ecommerce major FirstCry, Xpressbees offers B2B, B2C and cross-border logistics services. With more than 100 hubs and 3 Mn sq. ft. of warehouse capacity, Xpressbees delivers goods to more than 20,000 pin codes across the country. It reportedly handles more than 3 Mn shipments a day.

It competes with the likes of companies such as listed logistics startup Delhivery and Ecom Express.

Growing at scale, Xpressbees reported a net loss of INR 27.1 Cr in FY22, down more than 57% from INR 63.4 Cr in FY21. However, revenues jumped 1.8X YoY to INR 1,904.4 Cr in FY22 compared to INR 1,010.1 Cr in the previous year.

On the other hand, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board continues to further scale its investments in the country. Reportedly, it already has invested more than $3 Bn in India. The thesis has been led by the growing digital economy in the country and has even picked India as one of its key strategic countries to reach the $300 Bn investment mark by 2030.

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