Tribe Capital is in talks to fund $75 million to $100 million in logistics aggregator Shiprocket, according to a person familiar with the matter, a notable funding discussion at a time when most Indian startups are struggling to raise capital.
Funding talks are ongoing and terms could change, two people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private. Tribe Capital and Shiprocket declined to comment.
New Delhi-based Shiprocket operates an e-commerce logistics and shipping software solution for courier services. Its platform uses a machine learning-based data engine that recommends the right courier service for a business and selects a courier company, prints shipping labels and tracks orders from a single panel, allowing businesses to manage their shipments and returns simply and efficiently .
Shiprocket, which counts Temasek and Zomato among its backers, aims to be ready for an IPO in the next 12 to 18 months, according to a company memo reviewed by TechCrunch. Its annual operating rate, at the end of September, was more than $165 million, the source said.
On its website, Shiprocket says it works with 250,000 merchants in India, who do up to 200 million transactions annually.
The startup plans to expand its financing option to merchants and buy now, pay later offers to consumers. It has projected to increase its revenue pace to about $500 million by the end of 2025, the internal memo said. It is also looking to expand its cross-border shipping and cashier offerings, said another person familiar with the company’s plans.
Tribe Capital, which is already a backer of Shiprocket, is looking to expand its focus to India. Its leader Arjun Sethi told India’s Economic Times newspaper earlier this year that the company wants to do so raise a $250 million India-focused fund.
Reflecting the sluggish investment pace in startup ecosystems globally, Indian startups have secured around $7 billion in funding in 2023, according to market intelligence platform Tracxn, up from around $25 billion in 2022 and $37 billion in 2021. In fact, it is the lowest in seven years.
Late-stage funding saw the biggest decline, down more than 73% year-over-year. Additionally, the number of mega-rounds over $100 million totaled just 17 for the year, down 69% compared to 2021.
