Logistics startup Delhivery expected to raise $100 million of fresh capital

Delhivery, the ground logistics startup, is in talks to raise $100 million fresh capital from PE firm The Carlyle Group and Chinese Fosun. The deal is expected to value the startup at $700 million. Prior to this the firm had raised ~$95 million during 2015-16 period from its existing investors Tiger Global, Times Internet and Nexus Venture Partners. In 2016, Delhivery registered INR524 crore revenues with losses of INR317 crore, while in 2015 the company had a revenue of INR228 crore and losses of INR71 crore.

Technology-enabled logistics industry is expected to witness significant growth with the overall market value of the business rising from $1.5 billion in 2015 to $9.6 billion by 2020. Surface transport logistics provider Rivigo also raised $75 million from Warburg Pincus in November’16, and truck aggregator Blackbuck is also in talks with World Bank arm IFC and Sands Capital for a new round of funding. However, the sector has recently witnessed some churn out due to tough economic conditions. In the last one year, the sector has seen closure of companies like Gojavas and consolidation of last-mile delivery companies like Opinio and Runnr.

The logistics business will be dependent on the growth of ecommerce business, and as long as the big online players keep on growing, the logistics industry will thrive.