India's Shadowfax receives $60m Series D

Mirae Asset Naver fund, NGP Capital, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) also participated, as did local e-commerce giant Flipkart, which has an existing partnership with the company. It follows a $22 million Series C last year led by NGP.

Shadowfax claims to have grown sixfold in the past two years, with current operations enabling 10 million shipments a month across segments including hot food, groceries, fashion, and electronics. The latest investment is expected to lift this figure to 100 million per month through a build-out of the technology platform and a staff expansion.

The plan includes working with Flipkart to develop a hyperlocal delivery ecosystem by bringing e-commerce capabilities to offline general stores, known locally as kirana stores. Shadowfax said the effort aimed to facilitate increased grocery and fresh produce deliveries from kirana stores and create one million micro-entrepreneurs in the next five years.

"This strategic integration with Flipkart and its global best practices will not only unlock huge opportunities for Shadowfax; it will also enable us to innovate with the largest online platform in India and build core capabilities that can be democratized for the larger logistics ecosystem," Abhishek Bansal, CEO of Shadowfax, said in a statement.

Last-mile delivery has proven a popular investment category as India's fragmented logistics space and consumer behavior modernize. Competition has been fierce in the segment, with a number of VC-backed start-ups shutting down in recent years. Shadowfax's largest competitors include Delhivery, which has raised more than $900 million.

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• Topics
• South Asia
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• Eight Roads
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