Ecommerce Logistics Firm Xpressbees Raises Over $12 Mn

Pune-based ecommerce logistics firm, Xpressbees, has raised about $12.38 Mn (INR 85 Cr.) in funding from its existing investors, including SAIF Partners, IDG Ventures India, NEA, Vertex Ventures and Valiant Capital, reported ET.

FirstCry had started logistics business in 2012 when it decided to start express deliveries of its products, and then forayed into third party logistics (3PL) at the beginning of 2015. The business has been built by Firstcry founders Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha. The company was spun off as BusyBees in September 2015.

Owned by Busybees Logistics Solutions, Xpressbees claims to have scaled to over 1,00,000 deliveries per day on just $5 Mn in funding.

It delivers to 200 cities, with ‘same-day’ and ‘next day’ delivery in nearly 100 cities, and covers over 3,000 pin codes. “We will conservatively look to double the number of deliveries by next year, and there could also be inorganic opportunities as well,” said Saha.

Xpressbees will utilise the funds to upgrade its technology and expand its operations. The company is looking to take on other etailing-focused logistics players like Tiger Global-backed Delhivery and Warburg Pincus-backed Ecom Express.

Most of the leading ecommerce companies including Flipkart, Myntra and Amazon have their own last-mile logistics support. Indian ecommerce major Flipkart ships deliveries through Ekart, whereas Snapdeal picked up stake in GoJavas to support its last-mile delivery hassles. Besides, furniture etailer, FabFurnish, launched its logistics service Fabone, and after spinning off its medical business as 1mg, wellness etailer Healthkart has also built its own distribution network.

Earlier this month, Xpressbees raised around $8 Mn (about INR 54 Cr.) from SAIF Partners and Vertex Ventures, the venture arm of Singapore government’s investment company Temasek.

Xpressbees’ parent FirstCry has raised $69 Mn so far from investors including IDG Ventures India, SAIF Partners, Vertex Ventures, Valiant Capital, NEA and Ratan Tata.

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