Ahead of IPO, Delhivery Invests in Falcon Autotech

The Indian logistics company Delhivery says it has invested in the logistics automation firm Falcon Autotech, according to published reports Wednesday (Jan. 5).

The company did not disclose the amount, but sources told The Economic Times the figure was between $20 million and $30 million.

Delhivery, which is preparing for a nearly $1 billion initial public offering (IPO), said the investment is in keeping with its goal of investing in future-ready hardware solutions. The company runs 20 automated sorting centers, 124 gateways and 83 fulfillment centers in India, and hopes to work with Falcon to create new automation solutions for transportation and warehousing operations.

Founded in 2004, Falcon says it has pioneered a number of warehouse automation solutions for the logistics, courier and eCommerce sectors, including online weight and dimension/volume measurement systems for freight calculation, mail sorters and asset and inventory tracking.

“The collaboration with Falcon Autotech strengthens our ability to drive greater speed, precision and efficiency across our business lines,” said Ajith Pai, Delhivery’s COO.

The company says the investment will allow for the bundling of hardware automated solution with the Delhivery Software-as-a-Service (Saas) platform, one of the firm’s planned growth verticals for the Indian and global market.

Read more: India’s Delhivery Files for Nearly $1B IPO

Delhivery filed for its IPO with the Securities and Exchange Board of India in November 2021. The offering is expected to see the firm issue new shares worth around $66, with the rest of the capital used to purchase existing shares, bringing the company $997 million.

“Since we are an Indian company and have a substantial part of our business here, we will list locally,” CEO and Co-founder Sahil Barua said last year. “We are going into a public listing sitting on $550 million in cash, and we don’t burn money.”

Based in Gurgaon, Delhivery was founded in 2011 and is backed by investors that include SoftBank Vision Fund and Carlyle Group. The company’s IPO will be led by Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley India, BofA Securities and Citigroup.