Delhivery, a Delhi-based logistics startup, is reportedly in talks with private equity major The Carlyle Group and Chinese conglomerate Fosun to raise fresh funding of about $100 million.
As per the people aware of the development, if the deal goes through, the startup could be valued at about $700 million. For this round, Carlyle is said to be leading the round, while Fosun is said to be following its lead.
This deal will mark the fifth funding round for Delhivery, which had raised $85 million so far, led by Tiger Global Management in May 2015, followed by a bridge round of $10 million from existing investors Tiger Global, Times Internet and Nexus Venture Partners last year.
Once the deal materializes, this round of funding will be one of the largest in the e-commerce-focused logistics space. In the last one year, the sector has already seen the closure of companies like Gojavas and consolidation of last-mile delivery companies like Opinio and Runnr.
Delhivery had registered revenue of Rs 524 crore in fiscal 2016 with losses amounting to Rs 317 crore, according to data aggregation service Tofler. The company had a revenue of Rs 228 crore and a loss of Rs 71 crore in fiscal 2015.
Transport logistics provider Rivigo had raised $75 million from Warburg Pincus in November. Truck aggregator Blackbuck is also said to be in talks with World Bank arm IFC and Sands Capital for a new round, as per the report from Economic Times.
And as per the report by investment bank Avendus Capital, technology-enabled logistics businesses are expected to emerge as the next big market, growing from $1.4 billion in 2015 to $9.6 billion by 2020.
A few months ago, Delhivery received fresh funding from its investors at a higher valuation than the fund infused in the company in May last year. That time, the company had raised Rs 506 crore from Tiger Global and others, at a valuation of Rs 2,275 crore.
Earlier, the company was said to be in talks with PE firm for its pre-IPO placement. While other details on the IPO are still unknown, Delhivery’s growth underscores the importance of last mile e-commerce delivery in the booming online retail market.
