MANAMA: Xpressbees, an e-commerce logistics platform in India and a portfolio firm of Investcorp, has become a unicorn after raising $300 million in a ‘Series F’ funding round from private equity funds Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth and ChrysCapital at a valuation in excess of $1 billion.
Leading a consortium, Bahrain-based alternative investor Investcorp put capital in Xpressbees during a ‘Series E’ funding round in November 2020.
Founded in 2015, Xpressbees is amongst the market leaders in e-commerce logistics in India and offers services including first and last-mile delivery, reverse logistics, real-time tracking, and multiple payment collection and processing options.
Xpressbees helps more than 1,000 customers – including e-commerce giant Flipkart, beauty and personal care platform Nykaa, apparel and fashion marketplace Ajio (Reliance Retail), social commerce platform Meesho, eyewear seller Lenskart, phone maker Xiaomi, online pharmacy NetMeds and online marketplace Snapdeal – deliver their products across the country.
Present in more than 2,000 cities and towns, it processes more than 2.5 million orders a day – up from about 600,000 daily orders in the last 15 months.
Xpressbees is also in the process of transforming itself into a fully-fledged supply chain company with Express Cargo, 3PL and Cross Border Logistics.
Rishi Kapoor, co-chief executive of Investcorp, said, “The multifold increase in valuation of Xpressbees since our first investment just 15 months ago underscores the fact that it sits at the strategic sweet spot of the consumption shift to digital and e-commerce in India, with a significant future growth potential within India’s $200bn logistics industry.”
Investcorp has total assets under management of $40.4bn and according to Mr Kapoor continues to look for investments in the “fast-growing consumption and consumption enablers space which has been supercharged through digitisation and technology to serve the needs of customers”.
The investment firm is active in the mid-market private equity space in India, investing across the healthcare, business services, financial services, consumer and retail, and technology sectors.
Its investments over the last four years include Intergrow Brands, Bewakoof.com, Freshtohome, Zolostays, InCred, Citykart, ASG Eye Hospital, Nephroplus, Unilog, Xpressbees, Wingreens and Safari Industries.
Commenting on the timing of the Xpressbees deployment, Investcorp India partner and head of private equity Gaurav Sharma said, “We invested in Xpressbees right after the first wave of Covid-19. The market dynamics and consumer preferences were changing rapidly, and people were gravitating towards online shopping.”
Mr Sharma added, “E-commerce players required seamless logistics support across the value chain. Xpressbees continues to be well-positioned to provide robust support to its stakeholders to meet ever-growing online consumption. These tailwinds and the agility shown by the company helped it outperform our estimates and it registered an impressive 70 per cent growth in volume during 2021.”
avinash@gdn.com.bh
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