How an Ordinary Startup Became a Logistics Giant: The Inspiring Story of Delhivery

Delhivery is a giant in the world of logistics. It wasn't always like this, though. With just three employees operating out of a Delhi flat, this company started tiny.

It now employs over 66000 people and is valued at more than $3 billion. So, how did Delhivery achieve such a high level of popularity? Take a peek at this motivational narrative!

Sahil Barua, Mohit Tandon, Bhavesh Manglani, and Kapil Bharati established Delhivery in 2011. It began as a courier service for e-commerce companies such as Snapdeal and Myntra. Because of the surge in online purchasing on these sites, demand for deliveries to consumers' homes grew enormously within just two years of the company's start (and others).

The Beginnings

Suraj and Sahil ordered meals from a nearby Gurgaon eatery around half-past eleven in the evening. They became conversational with the delivery driver as he stood in front of their door, talking about the impending unemployment crisis. The founders rushed down to the store to speak with the manager. They were soon at the restaurant, speaking with the owner, who explained his plans to close the business and relocate his employees. Sahil and Suraj decided to establish their delivery company, Delhivery, here.

This logistics and e-commerce supply chain company started out as a small startup with huge dreams. The company's founders were adamant about making it work, and they worked long hours to do it.

They began by delivering packages for online retailers such as Snapdeal and Myntra. As demand for deliveries to clients' homes surged due to the expansion of internet shopping in India, this swiftly grew into a larger company.

As the company evolved, it became evident that there was a need in the Indian logistics market that could be filled.
There weren't many organizations offering delivery services within India at the time, notably for e-commerce orders. As a result, Delhivery stepped in to fill that void by providing an express delivery service. It eventually grew to be India's largest courier company, with over 20,000 employees and over 100 warehouses spread across 25 cities.

The company's growth was rapid: just two years after launching its logistics and e-commerce supply chain services for e-commerce firms like Flipkart and Snapdeal in 2012, the logistics and e-commerce supply chain company had already expanded into new markets like fashion retailing (Myntra) and even grocery stores like Big Basket.

This aided Amazon Prime Now's and Amazon's continued expansion in the country. We recognize them now not only because of their tremendous success story but also because of their logistics job.

Amazon, Flipkart, Jabong, Paytm, and Uber are just a few of the huge companies they've partnered with.

How Delhivery, the Indian E-Commerce Startup, Changed the Game
Due to the rapid expansion of internet shopping in India, demand for deliveries to consumers' homes surged, and this swiftly turned into a very substantial company.

As their strategic partnership grew over time with Amazon Prime Now (2013) and then Flipkart around the same time, these two together helped fuel additional expansion within their country from both Amazon Prime Now's and Flipkart's sides."

With the adoption of GST, the country's logistics business, which is worth roughly $160 billion, is predicted to increase at a CAGR of 10% and reach $215 billion in the following two years. However, the majority of the sector was torn apart by unorganized operators, and the entrance of Delhivery can simply be described as a phenomenon that has completely transformed the industry and the way it operates.

Here is where Delhivery has the most reach, with over 1400 serviceable pin codes on their list and 19,990+ sq ft of warehouse space in both Delhi and Bangalore. Delivery has a large number of partners with whom it hopes to expand product reach, and in order to keep up with those partners, the company also provides third-party warehousing and transit warehousing services. Delhivery controls its client base, which includes many other organizations and individuals, in addition to having major eCommerce brands as customers, such as Flipkart, Amazon, eBay, Snpdeal, Jabong, and Healthkart.

Founders, Owners, and Team of Delhivery
Sahil Barua, Kapil Bharati, Bhavesh Manglani, Mohit Tandon, and Suraj Saharan founded Delhivery with a group of engineers.

Sahil Barua
Delhivery, one of India's leading logistics companies, is led by Sahil Barua, its CEO, and Co-Founder. He has worked in the e-commerce and IT businesses for over 13 years. Sahil was the CEO of a company that supplied technology solutions to the retail market before founding Delhivery.

Kapil Bharati
Delhivery's CTO and Co-Founder is Kapil Bharati. He has over 12 years of technical experience and was instrumental in the development of Delhivery's technology infrastructure.

To improve the quality of the products delivered by Delhivery, Suvayu Ali (Data Scientist at Delhivery) used an algorithm to keep a close eye on the market for these technical matters, which is one of the projects being worked on by a team of data scientists at Delhivery led by former entrepreneur and Facebook data scientist Santanu Bhattacharya.

Delhivery now has a workforce of over 66000 employees.

Delhivery - Competitors

As Delhivery is a logistics company, and obviously, Delhivery thrives amidst huge market competition from some of the companies like:

• Ecom Express
• DotZot
• FSC (Future Supply Chain)
• BlackBuck
• Delex
• com
• ECOM express
• Ekart Logistics
• Shadowfax

It is because of the competition in the market that customers get different choices, and all of them more or less closely match each other when it comes to quality.

Delhivery's Revenue Model and Business Model
Delhivery is now regarded as India's premier provider of supply chain services. It is India's largest provider of B2B, B2C, and C2C logistics courier services. The organization is most well-known for the low shipping prices it charges for its services. Furthermore, Delhivery advertises that there are no setup or subscription fees!

The services provided by Delhivery can be categorized into three categories.

• Warehousing - Flexible warehousing in over 40 Indian cities
• 
  Transportation - The most extensive pan-India network, with 19000+ pin codes and 2500+ cities.
• 
  Commerce - Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and Opencart all provide ready-to-use integrations.

Delhivery's Acquisitions

To improve the business-to-business sector. With its delivery partnerships with prominent e-commerce organizations, Delhivery has established itself as a pioneer in business-to-consumer logistics over the last ten years.

Delhivery Funding Rounds Summary

Over the course of 14 rounds of funding, Delhivery has raised a total of $1.39 billion. The company's final round, headed by Addition, closed on September 24, 2021. It was able to raise roughly $125 million as a result of this. In the previous round, which took place on September 6, 2021, the company received capital of Rs 558 crores ($76.34 million). Lee Fixel's Addition LLC also led the Series I round of fundraising.

The work environment at Delhivery is both collaborative and relaxed. They have offices in Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Noida, among other cities in India.

The Delhivery logo is based on the word "deliver," which is a verb that implies "to serve." The name was chosen to symbolize their ambition of being able to provide anything to any location in India.

Delhivery - Future Plans

Delhivery is planning to undertake its first initial public offering (IPO) in 2022 as of June 2021. In addition, Delhivery will continue to invest aggressively in trucking infrastructure, with plans to spend up to Rs 300 crore in the next 24 months to boost its fleet size. 

Since its inception as a modest business, Delhivery has come a long way. They've quickly risen to become India's largest courier company, and they're still expanding at a rapid pace.
Their success can be attributed to their commitment to offering exceptional customer service and developing cutting-edge technological solutions.