India’s home grown e-commerce giant Flipkart is closing on $40 Mn investment in the logistic startup Shadowfax, according to people privy with the matter. The deal will most probably propel the Bengaluru based logistic startup’s market valuation to nearly $200 Mn.
According to the sources, Flipkart has already prepared the term sheet and the due diligence process has reached the final stage. If the deal does go through then it will mark Flipkart’s fourth investment in the logistic startups. Earlier, the Walmart owned company had backed logistic companies like BlackBuck and QikPod in order to ramp up its logistic operation. It also acquired Ekart logistics in 2015.
Investment in Shadowfax will help India’s home grown on-line shopping behemoth to streamline logistic operations ahead of the festive season. This is likely to result in improved doorstep delivery services and a chance to get better off its arch rival Amazon during the all-important festive season.
Founded in 2015 by Abhishek Bansal and Vaibhav Khandelwal, Shadowfax is a logistic startup that focuses on easing up the tedious process of last mile delivery with its tech-enabled solutions. Today its clients hail from wide-range of sectors like E-commerce, Restaurants, FMCG and Pharma. Some of its high profile clients include Swiggy, HUL, Oppo, Amazon, BigBasket and many more.
Earlier this year, the logistic startup took a big step in overhauling its executive team by appointing Myntra’s top executive Shamik Sharma as an independent director.
Shadowfax and Flipkart have so far not commented on this news report.
If the deal doe materialize then it will also affect Shadowfax’s ownership pattern. Currently, Eight Road Ventures with 37% stake is the largest investor in the company. Other investors include NGP Capital, Mirae Asset, Qualcomm Ventures and Snapdeal co-founders Kunl Bahl & Rohit Bansal.