FedEx Express, a subsidiary of delivery service giant FedEx, is investing $100 million in Indian startup Delhiwari to expand its presence in the South Asian country. Friday’s investment comes less than two months after the Gurgaon-headquarters launch, valued at $3 billion, with $277 million secured before the initial public offering in the upcoming quarter.
As part of the agreement, the companies will enter into a long-term commercial agreement. FedEx Express will focus on international export and import services from India and India and Delhi will sell FedEx Express international goods and services in the Indian market along with FedEx and provide pickup and delivery services across India. FedEx will relocate some of the household-related assets in India to Delhi. “Our goal is to deliver new products and opportunities to Indian and global businesses and consumers through our unique access to our networks and the acquisition of our technology and engineering capabilities,” Delhi-based co-founder Sahil Barua said of the investment on Friday.
Delhi started its life as a food delivery company but has since moved to full logistics services in 2,300 Indian cities and more than 17,500 zip codes. It is one of the handfuls of startups trying to digitize the supply and demand system of the logistics market through freight exchange platforms. Its platform connects conveyors, agents, and trackers with road transport solutions. The startup says the platform reduces the role of brokers, making some of its resources such as tracking – the most popular mode of transport for Delhi – more efficient and ensuring clockwork.
This digitization is crucial to address the inefficiencies of the Indian logistics industry, which has long held the national economy in check. Bernstein analysts wrote in a report last month about the reporting market in India, Bernstein analysts wrote in a report last month, Bernstein analysts increase costs, theft, losses, and delays to bear the cost of poor planning and forecasting of demand and supply. Dilliwari, which says it has delivered more than 1 billion orders, works with “India’s largest e-commerce companies and top enterprises”, according to its website, where it added that the startup has worked with more than 10,000 customers.
