Steadview Capital picks up secondary shares in Delhivery

Alternative investment firm Steadview Capital has picked up shares worth $25 million (Rs 184 crore) in ecommerce-focused logistics company Delhivery.

The Gurugram-based startup, in a statement, said that Steadview bought the shares from an early investor. It did not disclose the seller’s identity or ownership details.

“The company’s (Delhivery) tech-centric approach has been a key enabler in ensuring faster delivery speeds, decreasing logistics costs, and increasing ecommerce adoption in the country over the last decade. We believe Delhivery is well-positioned to become the largest logistics company in India and is poised for a strong growth trajectory in the years to come,” Ravi Mehta, founder and CIO of Steadview Capital, said.

Sahil Barua, founder and CEO of Delhivery, said he expects Steadview to play a key role in the company’s planned public markets debut in the next 12-15 months.

The nine-year-old startup last raised funds in September 2019, when the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) infused $115 million in it. 

Delhivery entered the coveted unicorn club in March 2019 after raising $413 million in a growth funding round led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. It was SoftBank’s third big-ticket investment in India in 2019 after online grocery startup Grofers and baby products e-tailer FirstCry.

In September this year, TechCircle reported that the company re-entered the food delivery segment, partnering with cloud kitchen brands and restaurant deliveries directly.  Delhivery started out as a hyperlocal delivery company in 2011 and currently commands a significant chunk of business-to-customer (B2C) delivery in the ecommerce logistics space. It is currently the largest B2C ecommerce focused logistics company after Walmart-owned Flipkart’s delivery arm e-Kart.

The report also said the company is in the market to raise around $300 million.

Over the years, Delhivery has tried out multiple lines of business, including freight services, reverse logistics, express parcel deliveries, cross-border logistics as well as warehousing for B2B and B2C orders. 

However, the largest contributor to revenue from operations continues to be its B2B operations, which makes up 80% of the business. 

The logistics-tech firm, which has raised over $800 million across multiple rounds, counts private equity firms Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Carlyle Group and Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, Tiger Global, venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners and digital business company Times Internet as its investors.