SoftBank-backed Delhivery gets $115m from Canada pension fund

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), a leading pension fund manager in Canada, announced it has bought an 8% stake in Indian logistics company Delhivery for US$115 million.

Photo credit: Delhivery

Delhivery became a unicorn in May at US$1.6 billion valuation, following a US$413 million raise in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund. The startup’s other backers include Carlyle Group, Fosun International, Nexus Venture Partners, Tiger Global, and Times Internet.

CPPIB’s investment in Delhivery was carried out through its Fundamental Equities Asia Group, which looks for long-term investments in Asian companies. With the deal, CPPIB will join Delhivery’s board.

According to a statemet, CPPIB’s equity investments in India stands at around US$7.5 billion as of June 30 of this year.

Sahil Barua, Delhivery’s founder and CEO, noted that CPPIB made a timely investment into the company as it reaches 500 million shipments to date. It handled 250 million shipments last year.

Barua also said that the company has surpassed 17,500 pincodes across India, launched three new businesses, and created over 10,000 new jobs in the past year.

In February, it acquired the India business of Aramex, a logistics firm in Dubai, as it positions itself as an end-to-end solution provider for ecommerce.

The startup, which currently covers more than 2,000 cities across India, previously told Tech in Asia that it’s in the early stages of expanding into South Asia, particularly in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal.