The Success Story of Delhivery
One of the industries that was highlighted by the COVID19 epidemic was logistics, notably in the country of India. The era of Logistics operating in the background has long passed; today, the sector serves as a differentiator.
The commencement of the pandemic has made opportunities and challenges for the startups more apparent. The most intriguing aspect is that logistics underlie both the opportunity and the prospect. The pandemic holds promising potential for daily services like e-grocery, food delivery, and e-commerce platforms to prove their competency and engage themselves in their customer’s everyday lives, with logistics held at the forefront.
Introduction
Last-mile delivery, transit and third-party warehousing, reverse logistics, payment collection, vendor-to-warehouse and vendor-to-consumer shipping are just a few of the services that Delhivery facilitates. Times Internet provides support for the platform. In 2012, the manufacturer of digital products acquired a small stake in the platform.
Storage management, Omni-channel, fulfilment (warehousing), and data services are all within Delhivery’s solution umbrella. The company’s main goal is to provide the best service while reducing the possibility that it won’t be able to resolve the client’s problems.
In order to foster trust and improve the quality of life for customers, small businesses, and enterprises as well as their thriving team of partners and employees, the platform simplifies the provision of goods and services. The company’s capabilities in network design, architecture, engineering, and technology have shook the nation’s logistics sector.
Delhivery places a premium on unparalleled cost-effectiveness and national coverage for more over 10,000 clients. The platform’s motivation is to reduce time and distance for its users and make the globe appear much smaller to them.
Founders of Delhivery
A group of engineers, including Sahil Barua, Mohit Tandon, Bhavesh Manglani, Suraj Saharan, and Kapil Bharati, founded Delhivery.
The platform’s originator, Sahil Barua, is an IIM Bangalore alumnus. Alongside Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur graduate Mohit Tandon, he worked at Bain & Company.
The COO of Delhivery, Bhavesh Manglani, holds a B.Tech degree from Dhirubhai Ambani-I.C.T. and an IIM degree from Calcutta.
Co-founder of Delhivery and IIT Bombay Mechanical Engineering graduate Suraj Saharan.
Kapil Bharati, another co-founder of Delhivery who holds a mechanical engineering degree from IIT Delhi, is also a co-founder of the company.
Business Model of Delhivery
Business to Business (B2B) is the primary sort of business model used by Delhivery, where the platform facilitates services that are largely focused on businesses. In this model, the customers are not charged at all, but the businesses are subject to fees.
The platform’s services can be categorised into three main categories: warehousing, transportation, and commerce. The platform’s primary area of expertise is transportation. The platform prioritises a “plug and play” design and offers a solution for all users that want to distribute their products to the customers who need them.
The platform places a strong emphasis on the distribution model, in which each organization’s branch operates as a hub. Due to this, there are no problems encountered during the delivery of the packages to the customers.
The process mainly entails that each time an item is ordered online, the manufacturer collects it and sends it to a processing unit where it is deposited before being transported to the destination. A first-mile operation has been used to describe this process. Following this, a line haul is used to move the goods from the processing location to their final destinations. The item is then delivered from the delivery system to the customer’s home during the final mile operation.
Growth of Delhivery
Delhivery is one of the few enterprises that has been able to function and maintain its popularity throughout the protracted pandemic. Over 15,00 people are now employed by what was once a small company with only 5 members in total to carry out all the operations like delivery hookups, product service, etc. to ensure that their customers are satisfied.
In order to fulfil the increased demand for more organised participants in the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform is now aiming to invest Rs 300 crore in 18 to 24 months on expansion, which also involves improving fleet size and developing trucking hubs.
Delhivery Funding
Everything started in April 2012 when Delhivery launched its Series A round, or first round of funding, in which it raised $1.5 million from Times Internet Limited. The platform’s expansion and development were sparked by this. Delhivery has so far secured $934.5M in financing across 9 rounds.
The platform received its most recent three fundings in 2019, when Delhivery raised $413 million in a Series F investment round and became a unicorn. SoftBank, Fosun International, and the Carlyle Group had led the round.
Final Thoughts
Initially just a hyperlocal express delivery service for offline stores in Gurgaon, delivering from boutiques and restaurants with food restrictions, it has since grown into a major e-commerce logistics platform. The platform has enormous potential for future growth and expansion, especially given the current trend towards a greater need for more efficient and well-organized logistics players.
