Xpressbees turns unicorn after raising $300 mn from Blackstone, TPG, ChrysCapital, others

Logistics service provider Xpressbees has raised $300 million in a Series F round from private equity firms like Blackstone, TPG, and ChrysCapital, making its way into the much coveted unicorn club.

The company will utilise the funding for technology innovation, product development and talent acquisition.

"While $100 million has come as primary, $200 million is secondary," Amitava Saha, founder and chief executive officer, told Moneycontrol in an interaction.

According to Saha, one of China's biggest investors that had bet on the company in 2018 will be exiting completely, while Alibaba and Elevation Capital will be making partial exits.

With this round, the total amount of funds raised by Xpressbees so far exceeds $500 million.

"Xpressbees is playing an important role in India’s booming e-commerce sector, which is still at an early stage and has a long runway of development. We look forward to leveraging Blackstone’s deep expertise and global network in logistics and ecommerce to accelerate Xpressbees’s growth," said Mukesh Mehta, senior managing director in Blackstone Private Equity.

The India market, dominated by US-based Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, is now witnessing competition with the aggressive expansion of Meesho and silent entry of foreign players like Shopee.

"This financial year we are expecting 70% growth over the last financial year and I see at least 50% compounding year on year growth for the next few years going ahead," Saha said.

The company now has over 100 hubs across India with over 10 lakh square foot warehouse capacity and operates across 52 airports in the country.

“As the Indian e-commerce market continues to grow, the need for end-to-end supply chain solutions that can meet the requirements of diversified customers across industries has never been more pronounced. Xpressbees has developed a differentiated, highly scalable, and asset-light operating model that is fully integrated through a customisable tech platform. We look forward to leveraging our deep capabilities in India to support Amitava Saha and his team as they grow the business and build on their leadership position," said Akshay Tanna, partner at TPG Growth.

Avendus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Xpressbees on this transaction.