14 Feb 2022
Investcorp, a leading global alternative investment firm, announced that its portfolio company, Xpressbees (the “Company”), a leading e-commerce logistics platform in India, became a unicorn after recently raising US $300 million in a Series F funding round from private equity funds Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth and ChrysCapital at a valuation in excess of US $1 billion. Investcorp, leading a consortium of other institutional investors, had first invested in Xpressbees during its Series E funding round in November 2020.
Rishi Kapoor, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Investcorp said, “The multifold increase in valuation of Xpressbees since our first investment just 15 months ago underscores the fact that Xpressbees 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 US $200 billion logistics industry. At Investcorp, we continue to look for investments in the fast-growing consumption and consumption enablers space, which has been supercharged through digitization and technology to serve the needs of customers. We are proud of this latest milestone for Xpressbees and will continue to further support the Company in its next phase of growth.”
Gaurav Sharma, Partner, Head Private Equity, Investcorp India added, “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. 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% growth in volume during 2021.”
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 is in the process of transforming itself into a fully-fledged supply chain company with Express Cargo, 3PL and Cross Border Logistics. It 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. It has presence in over 2,000 cities and towns, and it processes more than 2.5 million orders a day — up from about 600,000 daily orders in the last 15 months.
Investcorp is active in the mid-market private equity space in India, investing across the healthcare, businesses services, financial services, consumer & 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.