Ecom Express has been quietly working in the background. Its founder, TA Krishnan (formerly of Blue Dart) has not made IPO claims, but the company has raised capital from one of the most prestigious investors in the world: Warburg Pincus. Founded in 2013, the company delivers to 11,000 pin codes in a market which will potentially be valued at $307 billion by 2020. It is also one of Delhivery’s biggest rivals, which has raised $257 million so far. It competes with Delhivery in clients as well, with Ecom Express serving industry giants such as Flipkart and its subsidiaries Jabong and Myntra.
Total funding
- $170 million
Ecom Express
Ecom express private limited
Name as per MCA records
T A Krishnan
Founder and CEO
Delhi NCR
Headquarters
Investors
Competitors
Delhivery
What has Ecom Express been up to, in the last year?
Raising money to compete with Delhivery. It raised about $75 million from Warburg Pincus again, and the company is in the market for another $75 million. It is opening warehouses across the country to start a new line of business: sorting, packaging and dispatching products across the country. Ecom Express announced its plans just after Delhivery made its own claims. Its founders claim the company wants to be able to ship and deliver products within two days of the orders being placed. This may reflect in the company’s 2018 accounts. The company has also started deepening partnerships to go beyond e-commerce—it delivers auto parts and apparel from traditional retail. Ecom Express recently also appointed a CFO, Mayank Gupta, formerly of GE and Maruti Suzuki, to add experience to its team.
Results
Rs 480.7 crore: The revenue earned by the company rose almost 40% from FY16. The company has been expanding its base of clients, and it shows. Delhivery, meanwhile, made Rs 738.3 crore in FY17. There is a gap to bridge.
Rs 186 crore: What Ecom Express spent on employee benefits in FY17. A 13.5% increase when compared to FY16. The company has been expanding but has not added too much to its wages yet.
Rs 39.2 crore: What Ecom Express spent on rent. It went up over 49% from FY16. The company has been opening a slew of warehouses in new cities.
Rs 262 crore: What Ecom Express spends on its new distribution arm. It is the largest part of the company’s expenses.
25%: The company decreased its losses by one fourth in FY17, which now stand at Rs 72.2 crore. Now compare this to Delhivery, which, too, saw a 21% drop in losses. If the duo plans to go to IPO, they may end up doing it at the same time, if all remains equal.
Where is the company headed?
Open more warehouses. That’s the one line Ecom Express seems to be going with. Warbug Pincus also funded Rivigo, an inter-state logistics company. There will be some overlap between the two companies going forward. Ecom will also look to become the largest logistics player in the e-commerce delivery space, so not only more big-ticket tie-ups but it will also start to tie down smaller e-commerce players. These will then use Ecom Express’ warehouses to store and dispatch inventory.
