Investcorp-Backed Xpressbees Becomes a Unicorn with Blackstone, Others Invest $300M

NEW DELHI: E-commerce logistics service provider Xpressbees on Wednesday became a unicorn, a company valued at $1 billion or more, after securing $300 million in Series F funding led by Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth and ChrysCapital.

The latest fundraising round valued Xpressbees at $1.2 billion, a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. Existing investors Investcorp and Norwest Venture Partners also participated in the round, the company said.

VCCircle had reported in October that Xpressbees, led by BusyBees Logistics Solutions Pvt Ltd, was in the process of raising funds at a unicorn valuation.

As reported by VCCircle, citing Gaurav Sharma, head of private equity (PE) at Investcorp India, the Investcorp-backed company is considering an initial public offering (IPO) as early as this year.

The platform has raised over $500 million in funding, and plans to use the latest funding to expand the product, hire talent, and scale to a full-service logistics organization.

An Xpressbees spokesperson said the company’s revenue grew by 95% in fiscal year 2018-19 (FY19) and the company expects to achieve a 75% revenue growth in fiscal year 2021-22.

Founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneurs Amitava Saha and Supam Maheshwari, the platform currently has a presence in 3,000 cities and serves sectors such as e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, FMCG, retail, manufacturing, electronics and consumer durables.

The company claims to provide over 20,000 PINs and said it delivers over 1.5 million parcels a day. It has over 100 hubs in India and operates at 52 airports in the country.

“Xpressbees plays an important role in the emerging Indian e-commerce sector, which is still in its early stages and has a long way to go. We look forward to leveraging Blackstone’s deep expertise and global network in logistics and e-commerce to accelerate Xpressbees’ growth,” said Mukesh Mehta, Senior Managing Director, Blackstone Private Equity.

The company started as the logistics arm of Pune-based baby retailer FirstCry about 10 years ago. It was spun off from FirstCry and began operating independently in September 2015.

In the same year, the company raised its first round of funding from venture capitalists such as SAIF Partners and Chiratae Ventures.

“As the Indian e-commerce market grows, the need for comprehensive supply chain solutions that can meet the needs of diverse customers across industries is more acute than ever.

“Xpressbees has developed a differentiated, highly scalable and low-cost operating model that is fully integrated through a configurable technology platform,” said Akshay Tanna, Partner at TPG Growth.

Avendus Capital acted as exclusive financial advisor to Xpressbees on this transaction.