Shadowfax to enter China with cross-border logistics play

Business-to-business logistics startup Shadowfax will enter China to facilitate cross-border logistics for e-commerce players in both countries, a company statement said.

The firm will offers its services to Indian e-commerce players sourcing products from China as well as to Chinese logistics companies looking for an Indian partner. It will also soon set up its office in China and has invested in building a proprietary algorithm for its clients in the cross-border e-commerce space, the statement added.

According to a report by research consulting firm Redseer in August 2018, 30% of orders generated on cross-border Chinese e-commerce platforms like ClubFactory, SheIn and AliExpress come from Tier 2 cities and beyond.

At present, most of the cross-border players use freight forwarders to ship the orders from China to India which is then segregated and delivered by e-commerce delivery companies such as Ecom Express, Delhivery and others. 

“A number of e-com players procure products from China and sell in the Indian market. We hope to provide a quick, technologically advanced, cost-effective logistics service to entrepreneurs and logistics companies in both countries,” said Rohit Gupta, vice president of business development and strategy at Shadowfax.

The company has been shoring up on capital to expand its intra-city delivery service beyond food, groceries, pharmacy, fashion and other categories.

In September 2018, the company raised an undisclosed amount from International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank. The investment came a month after Shadowfax raised $22 million in a Series C round led by US-based investment firm NGP Capital. Qualcomm Ventures, Mirae Asset and existing investor Eight Roads Ventures participated in the round.

Run by Shadowfax Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the venture was started in 2015 by IIT Delhi alumnus Abhishek Bansal and Vaibhav Khandelwal. It delivers over 1.5 lakh orders a day and works with Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, Domino’s Pizza, BigBasket and others in 150 cities. The platform currently employs over 50,000 delivery personnel.

Shadowfax had acquired reverse logistics capabilities of Nuvo Ex in October 2017 as part of its inorganic growth strategy.