Shadowfax: Logistics company Shadowfax sees $50 million, doubling its value to $700 million

Backed by Flipkart hyperlocal logistics start-up Shadowfax is in the advanced stages of closing a financing round 350-400 crore ($45-50 million), which is likely to double its valuation to 5,500-6,000 crore rupees ($700 million), several people familiar with the matter said.

This will be the Bengaluru-based company’s last private round before its initial public offering (IPO)they said.

Domestic family offices, mutual funds and high net worth individuals (HNIs) that typically come on board before a public issue will join the cap table of Shadowfax, which specializes in fast trade and the same day e-commerce deliveries, in this round, they added.

Wealth managers such as Nuvama and InCred, which bundle investment deals for their private clients, have also held talks with Shadowfax for this round, but the company plans to finalize its investors in the coming weeks, the people said.

Shadowfax had closed a round of 100 million dollars this February in a mix of primary and secondary investments as part of a funding round led by growth investor TPG NewQuest. This round valued the company at $350 million.

“They were looking to raise between $30 and $35 million in this round, but given the interest in the company due to its IPO “Plans and rapid trade exposure, there is adequate demand to expand the round,” a person aware of the matter told ET.

“The idea is to set the valuation before submitting the initial public offering. That (draft IPO documents) should also happen this financial year,” said another person briefed on the plans.

Read also | Logistics firm Ecom Express files for Rs 2,600 crore IPO

The increased funding round may also cause some investors to partially sell their stake in a secondary share sale.

“Both new and existing investors will participate in the round,” said the second person cited above.

Founded in 2015 by IIT Delhi alumni Abhishek Bansal, Vaibhav Khandelwal, Praharsh Chandra and Gaurav Jaithliya, Shadowfax has transitioned to serving e-commerce clients like Meesho from initially being an on-demand logistics provider for food delivery platforms.

Bansal declined to comment on fundraising plans.

Jewelry manufacturer Bluestone is also looking to file its draft IPO documents this financial year. It closed a pre-IPO round of Rs 900 crore at a valuation of Rs 8,100 crore, as reported by ET in August. The year has already seen several IPOs by new-age companies, including Electric Wave, first cry, Office and Next.

Rapid boost to trade

Shadowfax is seeing massive traction arising from fast deliveries with several brands and platforms moving to offer same-day and even faster delivery to customers across the country.

The company delivers between 2 and 2.5 million packages per day and has a network of 1.6 million monthly active delivery partners.

One of the people briefed on the company’s plans said some of the principal capital being raised will go to Shadowfax. Expanding Your Trading Operations Fast.

“Shadowfax wants to strengthen its balance sheet ahead of the IPO… but also plans to quickly invest in fast trading, dark store operations and same day delivery”the person said.

“The quick commerce sector in general is receiving a lot of interest from investors, so Shadowfax is also raising this money to expand its presence, as it is currently working with several fast commerce companies, e-commerce and D2C brands to allow same-day deliveries. he added.

In FY24, Shadowfax posted Rs 1,900 crore in operating income, a 35% increase over the previous fiscal, one of the sources said, adding that in FY25 the revenue could rise to around Rs 2,500. crores.

Currently, express commerce and hyperlocal deliveries contribute to around 25% of the company’s business, which could grow to 35-40% next year. Even within the remaining 75% of revenue, which comes from e-commerce service and direct-to-consumer brands, the majority of the contribution comes from same-day deliveries.

As part of its fast commerce services, Shadowfax offers fleet and workforce management to platforms and brands for last-mile delivery and dark store management.

In August, ET had reported that e-commerce and hyperlocal logistics companies, including Shadowfax, Warburg Pincus-backed Ecom Express, and Tiger Global-backed Loadshare, have jumped on the fast delivery bandwagon to corner a growing order volume pie.