Xpressbees, a Pune-based logistics company collaborating with various e-commerce entities in India, has secured $80 million in a recent funding round led by Ontario Teachers’ late-stage venture growth fund, reflecting the escalating trend in online shopping within the country.
The Canadian pension fund has obtained a stake in the startup, valuing it at approximately $1.4 billion, the same valuation achieved in its preceding Series F funding phase. With this latest funding infusion, Xpressbees’ cumulative funding has now reached approximately $680 million. The funding round’s name and the amount garnered through secondary transactions were not disclosed.
Xpressbees, backed by investors such as Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah, TPG, Alibaba, and Blackstone, collaborates with over 1,000 clients, including prominent names like Paytm, Meesho, Lenskart, Xiaomi, and NetMeds. The logistics firm operates in more than 2,000 cities and towns, processing over 2.5 million orders daily. Despite being in a loss-making position, it generated a revenue of about $300 million in the financial year ending March. The involvement of the Canadian pension fund suggests that Xpressbees is positioning itself for an initial public offering within the next one to two years.
Established in 2012 within the framework of FirstCry, an e-commerce platform for baby products, Xpressbees became an independent entity in 2015. The company’s CEO, Amitava Saha, transitioned from being the co-founder and chief operating officer of FirstCry. Xpressbees’ other co-founder is Supam Maheshwari, who also co-founded and serves as the CEO of FirstCry.
Deepak Dara of Ontario Teachers expressed enthusiasm about the potential for comprehensive logistics and supply chain solutions catering to diverse customer bases across various industries in India. He highlighted Xpressbees’ scalability, efficient asset-light model, and proven execution capabilities.
Ontario Teachers’ has invested over $3 billion in India, designating it as one of its “key strategic” countries. Xpressbees faces competition from established firms like Delhivery and startups like Shadowfax, the latter reportedly in advanced discussions to raise around $60 million in a funding round led by TPG NewQuest
