B2B logistics startup Delhivery has encountered a steady growth in financial performance during the year 2017-18.
As per the company's consolidated RoC filings with Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Delhivery recorded a 42 per cent increase in the revenue from Rs 756.01 crore in FY17 to Rs 1073.64 crore in FY18.
The operating revenue of the company stood at Rs 1023.05 crore, a 37.56 per cent growth from Rs 743.7 crore, contributing 95.3 per cent to the overall revenue. Other income grew 4.1X to Rs 50.59 crore.
Meanwhile, the expenses of the company increased by 26.7 per cent, to Rs 1756.74 crore from Rs 1393.55 crore. The largest portion of expenses was consumed by Miscellaneous other expenses amounting to Rs 1020.46 crore, which within itself took a 21.4 per cent hike.
Losses incurred by the company, in return, increased by 8.5 per cent to Rs 692.22 crore in FY18 from Rs 637.83 crore in FY17.
This shows that even when the company’s revenue growth slowed down a little bit from the 50 per cent growth in net sales in the previous fiscal, the spike in losses and expenses is controlled. There has been a positive change in topline and bottom line metrics.
During the financial year, the Sahil Barua led company had received a funding of Rs 173 crore from Deli CMF fund (its Singapore arm). Currently, it is in talks with SoftBank to raise between $250-450 million in its next round. Its existing investors include Fosun, Nexus Ventures, Times Internet etc.
Logistics as a segment in the startup industry is an attractive avenue for VCs, and is witnessing a sharp rise in traction. In August this year, B2B logistics platform Shadowfax had raised $22 million in Series C round led by Nokia Group Partner (NGP) Capital. Alibaba also infused $35 million in e-commerce focused logistics firm XpressBees.