Logistics start-up Xpressbees raises $300 mn to become 8th unicorn of 2022

Pune-based logistics start-up Xpressbees has raised $300 million in a Series F funding round, making it the 8th company in 2022 to become a unicorn. The latest fundraise values the firm at $1.2 billion. The funding round was led by private equity funds Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth and ChrysCapital, and includes a primary capital infusion of $100 million and a secondary share sale worth $200 million.

Chinese asset management company CDH Investments made a complete exit in the sale while early investors Elevation Capital and Alibaba booked partial exits.

According to data from Venture Intelligence, the rate of unicorn funding rounds has already doubled this year-the first two months of 2021 saw three start-ups join the unicorn club while, in the same period this year, eight firms have joined the bandwagon with 18 days to go. Moreover, financial year 2020-21 (FY21) saw 13 start-ups turn unicorns whereas FY22 has seen 47 unicorns, with over a month remaining.

“Despite the hiccup in the public market, the pace of unicorn fundraises shows the faith of global investors in the Indian start-up ecosystem. Although an exodus of asset allocators from Chinese internet start-ups is one part of the story, the digital proliferation in India and the efforts of domestic fund managers in running a steady ship are other major reasons,” said Siddarth Pai, managing partner of venture capital firm 3one4 Capital.

There have been four unicorn fundraises this week (including Xpressbees). The first to enter the club was blockchain start-up Polygon with a $450 million fundraise from Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, SoftBank, among other investors. This not only happened at a valuation of around $10 billion, but also made it the most valuable Web3 Company in India.

Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce start-up ElasticRun was next in line. The SoftBank-led fundraise tripled the company’s valuation in one go even as it raised $300 million in the round. The third start-up to achieve a billion-dollar valuation this week home decor company LivSpace which raised $180 million at a valuation of $1.2 billion in a round led by private equity major KKR.

According to a report by market intelligence firm PGA Labs, there are around 45 start-ups that have the potential to achieve a $1-billion-plus valuation in the near future.

“2022 will see consolidation as the winners will start getting separated from the ones that are not growing fast enough,” said Madhur Singhal, managing partner and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Praxis Global Alliance. “Strong start-up activity in new sectors, such as healthtech, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and B2B will gain momentum in India.”

The median funding valuation of start-ups in the round prior to unicorn valuation is $400 million-$600 million. There are currently 27 start-ups in this range. Of these, 18 have a valuation of over $500 million and are close to becoming unicorns.

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