Avendus Future Leaders Fund buys stake in Xpressbees for Rs 195 crore

This is the sixth deal from the new Rs 1,500-crore fund II raised by Avendus in August 2021. So far, it has invested in companies such as

General Insurance, Juspay, Lenskart, Zeta and Licious.

“We are finding interesting opportunities in the secondary market right now,” said Ritesh Chandra, managing partner at Avendus Future Leaders Fund. “We will be looking at doing more such deals. By the end of the current calendar, we expect to close another two to three such deals.”

According to him, the fund that is currently 44% deployed is expected to be fully deployed over the next one year. The fund is looking to write growth and late stage cheques of Rs 150-200 crore.

“In the last few years, the logistics sector has witnessed a revolutionary change and has become a vital enabler for facilitating commerce in India. Xpressbees, with its asset-light franchise model, is all set to occupy a leading position in the logistics landscape in India,” Chandra added.

In February, Xpressbees had raised $300 million in a new funding round led by private equity funds Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth and ChrysCapital, valuing the Pune-based company at $1.1 billion.

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The company, facing tough competition from other peers such as Shiprocket and Ecom Express, is looking to open over 50 of its warehouses to service direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands days after Shiprocket’s acquisition of Pickrr, which was aimed to bolster its direct commerce business, ET reported in June.

Founded in 2012 by serial entrepreneurs Amitava Saha and Supam Maheshwari, Xpressbees is an ecommerce focused end-to-end supply chain solutions provider. It handles over one million shipments daily across the country on its network of 3,000 cities, serving over 19,500 pincodes.

Operated by BusyBees Logistics Solutions, Xpressbees has over 100 hubs across India, 1 million sq ft warehouse capacity, and 52 cargo airports. The company’s new lines of business include 3PL (third-party logistics), B2B Xpress and cross-border operations.

“We have built a well-respected and valuable brand and believe this announcement is a great testament to the opportunity that exists in the logistics space,” said Amitava Saha, co-founder, Xpressbees.

Avendus’ first fund, launched in 2019, of $50 million has been invested across companies such as Lenskart, Delhivery, VerSe Innovation, Bikaji Foods, National Stock Exchange and

among others.

For Elevation Capital that has raised $670 million, its largest India fund till date, its partial exit from XpressBees helps it take some money off the table. The firm that has backed companies such as Swiggy, Meesho,

and Unacademy is looking to create some more exits from its vintage investments.