Warburg Pincus-backed logistics startup Ecom Express banks $36m

Ecom Express, a tech-enabled Indian company providing end-to-end logistics solutions, has secured US$36 million in equity investment from CDC Group, a UK government-owned development finance institution and impact investor in South Asia and Africa.

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Founded in 2012, Ecom Express offers express delivery services for the ecommerce industry. It claims to have reached over 90% of India’s population, with more than 85% of its presence in tier two, three, and four cities and hinterlands.

According to Ecom Express co-founder and CEO T.A. Krishnan, the company will use the new capital to further expand toward rural centers, invest in technology, deploy advanced parcel sortation systems, strengthen network reliability and infrastructure, and create development impact through job creation, environmentally responsible initiatives, and gender diversity.

Ecom Express said it is going to accelerate job creation from around 32,000 employees to about 47,000 within the next one to two years, focusing on increasing the number of employed women in the workforce.

CDC will also work with Ecom Express to transition a proportion of its distribution fleet to electric vehicles and sponsor a road safety program for its drivers and fleet operators.

“We are dedicated to responsibly investing our capital in India, with over US$1.7 billion currently committed to local businesses,” said Srini Nagarajan, managing director and head of CDC Asia, adding that the company will invest the same amount again in more businesses over the next few years.