After months of speculations, Flipkart has finally led a $ 60 Mn funding round in popular logistics startup Shadowfax. Media reports were rife since August that Walmart owned company has signed a term sheet to pump $ 40 -50 Mn funds in the Bengaluru headquartered logistic firm. Techpluto had also covered a story on its platform regarding this fundraising story.
The fundraising also saw participation of existing investors including Qualcomm Ventures and NGP Capital. Although there is still no clarity about Shadowfax’s market valuation, sources claim that the latest fundraising has pegged company’s valuation at nearly $250 Mn.
Commenting about the funding round, Flipkart’s CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said that Shadowfax’s tech-enabled solutions will significantly help to reduce their delivery time and provide superior customer experience across product categories. It must be noted that even before the latest funding round was transacted, Shadowfax has been working as a logistic partner of Flipkart.
It has been a common practice for e-commerce companies to invest in logistic companies, since this helps in improving their logistics operation and thereby enhancing customer experience. Before investment in Shadowfax, the Walmart owned company had backed logistic companies like BlackBuck and QikPod.
Unlike Delhivery, Shadowfax may still be far away from achieving the coveted title of unicorn. However, company’s tech-enabled solutions for easing up last-mile deliveries have managed to create positive impression in the industry. Therefore it isn’t surprising that the company boasts several high profile clients like Swiggy, HUL, Oppo, Amazon, BigBasket and many more.
Off late, the company has also been pushing for international expansion and recently stepped inside the highly competitive Chinese market. It also overhauled the executive team by appointing Myntra’s top executive, Shamik Sharma, as an independent director. The company was founded in 2015 by Abhishek Bansal and Vaibhav Khandelwal.