Shiprocket turns unicorn, the first one in nearly a month

Logistics platform Shiprocket became the latest entrant in the much-coveted unicorn club after raising Rs 260 crore (around $33 million) in fresh capital by existing investors Temasek Holdings and Lightrock India, according to filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). The round pushed the company’s valuation to $1.2 billion. 

A unicorn is a privately-held startup with a valuation of $1 billion or more. 

As part of this transaction, Shiprocket, operated by Bigfoot Retail Solution Pvt. Ltd, is issuing 59,793 Series E2 compulsorily convertible preference shares at a face value of Rs 355 and a premium of Rs 43,039.13 apiece. The company’s board approved the issuance of shares in a meeting on 10 August 2022. 

Temasek and Lightrock put in Rs 78 crore and Rs 75 crore, respectively. Bertelsmann Nederland, March Venture Capital Management Services LLC, Moore Strategic Ventures LLC Huddle Collective and Paypal Inc brought in the remaining capital. 

An email sent to Shiprocket, Temasek and Lightrock India did not elicit an immediate response. 

The latest fundraise was first reported by the news website Entrackr. 

Prior to this funding round, Shiprocket had signed a definitive agreement in December last year to raise $185 million as part of its Series E round co-led led by Zomato Ltd, Temasek Holdings and Lightrock India. Shiprocket is one of Zomato’s investments in startups. Last year, Zomato also invested in Blinkit (formerly Grofers), which it acquired this year. Other startup investments of Zomato include hyperlocal discovery platform magicpin and fitness major Curefit. 

Founded in 2017 by Gautam Kapoor, Saahil Goel, and Vishesh Khurana, Shiprocket offers logistics services to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands and social commerce sellers across a variety of categories. The startup claims that it serves more than 29,000 pin codes in India and 220 other countries. 

In a recent interaction in June with VCCircle, Goel without disclosing the latest financials said that Shiprocket’s core business is profitable. In fiscal 2020-21, the company’s revenue stood at Rs 364 crore, up from Rs 161 crore in the previous financial year, according to VCCircle’s data and intelligence platform VCCEdge. The company has yet to release the financial numbers for the financial year 2021-22. In July, Goel also said that the company is not looking for an initial public offering (IPO) now but wants to be ready for it without specifying a timeline. 

For the past few months, Shiprocket has been actively chasing inorganic growth via acquisitions. Last month, Shiprocket announced the acquisition of Arvind Ltd’s omnichannel technology business Omuni for an estimated Rs 200 crore. 

Omuni was Shiprocket’s fifth acquisition. Prior to this, the startup in June announced the acquisition of Pickrr for around $200 million in a mix of cash and stock deal. 

In the interaction with VCCircle in June, Goel had said that the company will continue to look at inorganic growth opportunities in the post-purchase category that includes customer services, shipping, packaging, returns and refunds. He added that the company has enough cash reserves without specifying a number and that most of them are reserved for acquisitions. 

He had also sought to dismiss the perception that it is looking to take on the big players of the logistics space such as Delhivery and Xpressbees who are also its partners. 

Shiprocket had also entered the international market last year with its entry into Saudi Arabia with an aim to become a global company in 10 years.