With the festive season approaching, Flipkart is looking to ramp up its delivery system! The e-commerce giant is all set to invest around US $ 40 million in logistics start-up Shadowfax.
Investing in Shadowfax will give Flipkart an edge in doorstep deliveries as the start-up specialises in connecting delivery executives to e-commerce companies as well as with small and medium companies to fulfil last-mile logistics and help deliver products overnight.
Flipkart is said to have put in a term sheet with the due diligence ongoing. The Walmart-led company is not the first to be investing in the start-up, earlier trucking platform BlackBuck and locker provider QikPod had jumped on the opportunity presented by the company.
Shadowfax last raised Rs. 138 crore at a valuation of Rs. 573 crore, led by NGP Capital, International Finance Corporation, Mirae Asset and Qualcomm Venture.
Notably, 37 per cent stake in the company is owned by Fidelity International.
Shadowfax has garnered most of the major e-commerce players in the country like Amazon, Swiggy, BigBasket, Nykaa and Paytm, as its client and to reinforce its leadership team, it appointed former Myntra top executive Shamik Sharma as an independent director, in May.
Flipkart already owns Ekart, a logistics and supply chain company, which delivers shipments across 3,800 pin codes.
For fiscal year 2018, Shadowfax’s revenue stood at Rs. 78 crore on a loss of Rs. 21 crore, regulatory filings show. The bulk of expenses was towards ‘partner payments’. Last financial year, the company grew revenue to about Rs. 200-220 crore.
