Description-: Zomato-backed startup Shiprocket has inked an agreement to acquire an 80% majority stake in rival Pickrr in an estimated $200 million deal comprising cash, stock, and earn-out.
Moving towards a major market consolidation within the logistics industry, 3PL Zomato backed startup Shiprocket has inked an agreement to acquire an 80% majority stake in rival Pickrr in an estimated $200 million deal comprising cash, stock and earn-out. In the coming months, Shiprocket is looking to completely acquire Pickrr, giving an exit to the startup’s investors and absorbing the Pickrr team. Pickrr founders are likely to get an undisclosed stake in Shiprocket.
“The consolidation now also creates a single gateway for other enablers and suppliers to service the ever-growing digital retailer community. It aims at strengthening its position as the leading D2C enablement operating system,” said Shiprocket.
Launched in 2017, Shiprocket has been one of the market leaders within the logistics industry, offering 70K+ online sellers to ship their products across the country.
the startup claims to have 2 Lakh+ daily shipments across 29K+ pin codes and over 220 countries. It also claims to have clocked $49.7 Mn in revenue in FY21.
It is to be noted that Shiprocket is an aggregator of 3PL companies and does not really compete with other third-party logistics (3PL) businesses. It has 17+ courier partners, including the likes of Delhivery, Xpressbees, DTDC, Shadowfax, and Ecom Express.
Last year, Shiprocket raised $185 million in a Series E round co-led by Zomato and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek. This year, Shiprocket has been on an acquisition spree having acquired majority stakes in tech-powered Glaucus Supply Chain, martech startup Wigzo, B2B logistics platform Rocketbox and SaaS-based Logibricks.
Shiprocket is also in the final stages of acquiring Shyplite’s Indian business. If the deal goes through, Shyplite would be Shiprocket’s sixth acquisition in 2022.
The latest feather in the hat – Pickrr – will help Shiprocket strengthen its position as a platform for all-sized brands, small or big, providing after-sales services including delivery and other SaaS offerings.
Shiprocket founder and CEO Saahil Goel has outlined, “We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to define how retailers interact with logistics operators and consumers to create consumer delight. Shiprocket and Pickrr are uniquely positioned to capture this opportunity by laying the building blocks of this software infrastructure.”
Talking about Pickrr set up in 2015 by Ankit Kaushik, Rhitiman Majumder and Gaurav Mangla, the Delhi NCR-based logistics player is backed by the likes of IIFL, Amicus Capital, Ananta Capital, among others. The growth stage startup has to date raised $16 Mn across two rounds.
It largely operates in large-scale logistics fulfilment segment. The plug-and-play SaaS solution’s key offerings include B2B distribution, sales return management, D2C marketplace fulfillment, and managed transportation.
Similar to Shiprocket, Pickrr aggregates the 3PL market for over 75K sellers, bringing 20+ logistics companies such as FedEx, Blue Dart, Ekart and India Post. It recently also launched a tool named Fastrr to help online brands provide their customers with a checkout experience and manage abandoned carts.
Gaurav Mangla, co-founder of Pickrr, said, “As we analysed what the acquisition of Pickrr could mean, we were certain that it would be mutually beneficial, not just for the two platforms, but the entire e-commerce logistics space. Both Shiprocket and Pickrr are frontrunners in the industry, and we are keen to work closely with them to build futuristic solutions and transform the e-commerce logistics sector by driving it to its next growth phase.”
With the acquisition of Pickrr, Shiprocket is moving towards market consolidation, in a bid to have a large stake within the INR 1.2 Tn 3PL market.
