Alibaba-backed logistics and supply chain startup XpressBees has raised USD 110 million in its Series E funding round from private equity firms Investcorp, Norwest Venture Partners, and Gaja Capital.
The deal gives three PE funds an equity stake of 31%, according to local media Economic Times (ET). This essentially means that the new round values the Pune-headquartered startup at over USD 350 million. With the latest funding, the logistics startup has raised a total of USD 175.8 million to date.
The startup plans to use the fresh fund for expansion into new areas such as express cargo, third-party logistics, and cross border logistics.
“We will use this investment for further automating our hubs and sort centers, increased investments in technology and to expand our delivery footprint to cover the entire country,” Amitava Saha, CEO, XpressBees told ET.
The startup also plans to use the new funding to automate its hubs and sorting centers as well as expand its delivery footprint pan-India.
Prior to this round, XpressBees had received USD 10 million in December from Alibaba, which first backed the company in 2017 with a USD 35 million check. Its other existing backers include SAIF Partners, IDG Ventures India, NEA, Vertex Ventures, and Valiant Capital.
Five-year-old XpressBees was set up by Amitava Saha and Supam Maheshwari, co-founders of SoftBank-backed baby products startup FirstCry. The duo decided to spin off the firm’s logistics unit into a separate entity in 2015. Operated under BusyBees Logistics Solutions, XpressBees is now one of the largest e-commerce-focused logistics company, handling over two million daily shipments across the country.
Currently, XpressBees works with over 1,000 clients including Snapdeal, fashion portal Myntra, Paytm Mall, e-pharmacy startup Netmeds, social commerce startups Meesho and Shop101, and eyewear retailer Lenskart, among others.
The company claims to have a presence in about 2,000 cities and processes 2.5 million shipments daily. It competes with Tiger Global-backed Delhivery and Warburg Pincus-backed Ecom Express.
“We continue to believe that new age technology-led logistics players such as XpressBees will continue to play a pivotal role both in the growth of the E-commerce sector in India and the transformation of the USD 200 billion Indian logistics industry,” Niren Shah, Managing Director and Head of NVP India, said in a media statement.
