Supply chain services provider Delhivery has raised $ 275 million in primary funding round taking its market valuation to nearly $ 3 billion. Fidelity Management and Research Company led the Series H pre-IPO round. The round also saw participation from other public market investors; however, the firm did not disclose their names.
Opens new offices & recruits more staff
Delhivery, a leading fulfillment platform for digital commerce in India, has raised about $ 1.23 billion till now. Earlier this year, Delhivery announced to expand its footprint by opening two new tech offices in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad that will take its workforce strength to more than 500 employees in the country.
The startup currently has more than 350 employees and centers in Gurgaon, Goa, and Hyderabad (in India), and Seattle in the US. Delhivery provides supply chain services at over 17,500 pin codes across 2,300 cities. “The current expansion ensures we stay ahead of the curve with tech and data science being the core business differentiators,” said Kapil Bharati, Co-founder, and CTO, Delhivery.
Incorporated in June 2011 by Suraj Saharan with investments from Nitin Dhingra, Delhivery got its other co-founders – Sahil Barua, Mohit Tandon, Kapil Bharati, and Bhavesh Manglani — join in November 2020. The company has since raised funds from many venture capital and private equity investors. In its Series A round in 2012, Delhivery was valued at Rs 6.6 crore and now its valuation has hit Rs 13,000 crore.
“We are delighted to welcome Fidelity and our other new investors to our cap-table. This round of financing significantly strengthens our balance sheet and is a statement of confidence as we plan to go public,” said Sahil Barua, Delhivery’s co-founder, and CEO.
Growth in pandemic times
The investment comes when the company has witnessed healthy revenue growth in 2020-21 despite the pandemic. Since its inception, it has fulfilled over 850 million transactions and works with over 10,000 direct customers, which includes large and small e-commerce participants, SMEs, and leading enterprises and brands.
The firm, gets large chunk of its business through e-commerce deliveries, has also diversified into the B2B segment. For the financial year 2021-22, it was aiming to get revenues of Rs 3,700-4,000 crore, surpassing market leaders such as Blue Dart. It is yet to file its audited FY21 financials with the registrar of companies. Delhivery’s other competitors include FedEx, Ecom Express, Gati, and XpressBees.
Barua said that the investment coincides with two other significant milestones as Delhivery – will celebrate its 10th anniversary this month, and since its inception, it has completed 1 billion cumulative shipments in April 2021. American investment bank Citi acted as the sole financial advisor to Delhivery on this transaction.
