Last mile logistics firm Exprs raises seed capital from angel investors

Hyderabad based Exprs Techno Logistics, which runs a last mile distribution network for ecommerce deliveries, said it has raised Rs 4.5 crore ($0.61 million) in a seed funding round.

The round was led by former director of legal at Sequoia Capital Sandeep Kapoor, and founder of Algo Legal and angel investor Sweta Rau, a statement said. LetsVenture, AngelList and DCF Advisory also participated in the round. 

Exprs said it will use the fresh capital to establish deeper networks in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, where it has a strong presence, as well as in Mumbai and Chennai. The company plans to add 500 new locations over the next six months.

It previously raised Rs 2.2 crore in an angel funding round from friends and family. 

Founded in 2018 by Srinivas Madhavam, Srikanth Rajashekhar and Rahul Mehta, the company provides nano-distribution centres in gated communities, tech parks, universities and commute points. It collects packages at Exprs Points and employs personnel who deliver the packages for ecommerce firms, direct-to-consumer brands, homepreuners, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). 

“When we started building the network of nano distribution centres, there was no such network anywhere earlier. Investor’s faith in the model will fuel to build network at scale and make urban

fulfilment seamless,” Srinivas Madhavam, CEO of Exprs, said in a statement. Madhavam founded intra-city logistics company VDeliver in 2011 in Chennai.

Exprs currently serves two million customers through its delivery points. During the national Covid-19 lockdown, Exprs partnered with gated communities for contactless deliveries, with on-campus delivery executives managing doorstep delivery.

“With ecommerce rising, Indian consumers have started to take security and privacy very seriously. Exprs solves for this by consolidating deliveries across e-tailers and gives end consumer power to schedule the delivery at their convenience. Exprs has taken an inclusive approach by hiring women as end delivery personnel,” investor Rau said. She has earlier backed companies such as Dunzo, KhataBook and OpenBank. 

Ecommerce platforms such as Flipkart and Amazon provide customers with self-pickup options from the nearest partner kirana stores as part of their last mile model. However, delivery by executives in large campuses, such as IT parks and gated communities, is broken. 

During the lockdown, when delivery personnel were denied entry into gated communities, apartment security solution providers Apna Complex, MyGate and NoBrokers’ apartment management solution NoBrokerHood partnered with grocery delivery companies and brands to ensure contactless delivery. However, they did not provide doorstep delivery.

Flipkart, Accel and Delhivery-backed automated locker service provider QikPod operated in a similar space but could not scale its operations.