Activity Surrounding Delhivery’s Pre – IPO Moves

An Overview of the Company

Recognized as a unicorn startup owing to its valuation amounting to around USD 3 billion, Dehlivery serves as a delivery service known for delivering goods for e-commerce companies of repute.

Although its name would have you believe it provides services across the city of Delhi alone, that isn’t in fact true as its services span across the entire country. Presently over 2300 Indian cities avail of the services it provides with over 17,500 pin codes being catered to. Armed with tools that have honed their capabilities, Delhivery has an express parcel transportation network in place. Furthermore, the flexibility in place allows for clients to choose what delivery timings work best for them in addition to a payment plan that is appropriate.

Apart from shipping services, Delhivery offers clients specialized services that range from product replacement or exchange services to the delivery of HAZMAT or dangerous goods. Technological services include the ability to monitor and control deliveries in real-time and detect fraud in addition to other services.

Investments Made Thus Far & IPO Objectives 

Multiple investors that have contributed to the USD 270 million in the pre-IPO round include Fidelity Investments which is headquartered in America.

December 2020 saw Steadview Capital invest USD 25 million in the company in an effort to acquire shares of Delhivery which was then valued at USD 2 billion. Operating with secondary transactions, Delhivery itself doesn’t receive these funds as existing investors

Apart from having financial backing from SoftBank, Delhivery saw Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (or CPPIB) acquire an 8 percent stake in the company which it purchased from an existing investor in 2019 for a tune of USD 115 million.

When considering the funneled-in fresh fund, the total capital raised by Delhivery thus far amounts to approximately USD 1.23 billion.

As per sources within the company, Delhivery is set to be listed and offer an initial public offering (or IPO) at some point in 2022.

In 2020 Delhivery indicated its desire to invest over USD 40 million in the following two years. These investments would be aimed at expanding and increasing Delhivery’s operations and fleet.  This would help cater to the ever-increasing demand of orders owed in large part to the increasing purchases made online as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Financial Performance and Positions

Listed below are relevant features highlighting the financial performance and position of Delhivery over the past few years.

Investors – Investors include but aren’t limited to The Carlyle Group, Tiger Global Management, Times Internet, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Steadview Capital.

Financial Performance in FY 2020 and FY 2021 – FY2020 saw Delhivery successfully manage to reduce their narrows by a large margin resulting in them totalling INR 270 Crores in FY 2020. Witnessing a boost in its revenues, Delhivery sought to end the financial year 2021 with revenues that amounted to approximately INR 4,000 Crores which would see it at par with stalwarts in the logistics industry including but not limited to Blue Dart and FedEx.

Other Pertinent Information

As per information relayed by the Delhivery website, the delivery operations they have in place allow for up to 20 deliveries to be made across varied households in India per second.

Presently, over 7500 businesses have established partnerships with Delhivery and have thereby gained access to the infrastructure and technology Delhivery has in place such that their product and operations can be executed with ease.

Cross-border, freight, parcel transportation, reverse logistics, technological services, and warehousing opportunities have been made available to over 1000 customers of which include several of the country’s largest e-commerce enterprises and leading companies.

Foreign investors have suddenly increased their interests in Indian companies including the likes of Flipkart, Lenskart, and Zomato each of which are preparing to launch their own public listings by filing a draft red herring prospectus (or DRHP) and submitting it to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (or SEBI).

Delhivery accounts for one of a few startups that are seeking to digitize the logistics market’s system catered towards demand and supply by making use of a freight exchange platform. This digitization is much needed as the Indian logistics industry has been a cause of several inefficiencies thus far and has caused the country’s economy to not reach its true potential.

Concluding Thoughts

Delhivery’s IPO is expected to launch in 2022 and is anticipated by several investors eager for the public listing to be made.