Xpressbees, a new-age logistics startup, has become the latest startup to enter the elite billion-dollar club after raising $300 million in a Series F round of funding led by private equity firms Blackstone Growth, ChrysCapital, and TPG Growth.
The round also featured participation from existing investors Norwest Venture Partners and Investcorp, bringing the startup’s valuation close to $1.2 billion. Avendus Capital served as Xpressbees’ exclusive financial advisor on this transaction.
This illustrates that the most recent round of funding elevated Xpressbees’ valuation threefold. Xpressbees’ total funding now represents $500 million as a result of this investment. The Pune-based e-commerce logistics startup will use the fresh capital to transform into a full-service logistics company, as well as to facilitate the company’s next phase of expansion, product development, and talent acquisition.
Amitava Saha, founder, and CEO of Xpressbees in a statement said, “We are excited to welcome our new partners Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth, and ChrysCapital in our growth journey. With their vast network and operational expertise, we believe that they will further fuel our efforts in pursuing newer opportunities and will help expand our footprint.”
Xpressbees was founded by serial entrepreneurs Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha, was spun off from e-commerce major FirstCry in 2015. The same year, it secured its first round of funding from venture capital firms including Chiratae Ventures and SAIF Partners. The company is now operating in 3000 cities, serves more than 20,000 pin codes, and delivers over 1.5 million products every day. Firstcry also owns GlobalBees, a thrasio-inspired roll-up startup that joined the unicorn club last year.
Xpressbees currently operates across 52 airports in India and has 100 hubs with more than 10 lakh sq ft of warehouse capacity. It claims to have posted a near 100 percent growth in revenue on a year-to-year (YoY) basis. It works with major e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, FirstCry, Myntra, Meesho, Purplle, and Shopee.
“Xpressbees is playing an important role in India’s booming e-commerce sector, which is still at an early stage and has a long runway of development,” said Mukesh Mehta, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone PE.
The logistics company competes with the likes of the IPO-bound Delhivery, which has already received SEBI’s approval. Delhivery is planning an IPO for Rs 7,640 crore, with fresh issue shares worth Rs 5,000 crore. With the addition of Xpressbees to the unicorn club, India now features five logistics unicorns: Delhivery, BlackBuck, ElasticRun, and Rivigo. ElasticRun, the kirana-focused business-to-business logistics, turned unicorn after raising $300 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion, while Rivigo and BlackBuck are also valued at around $1 billion.