Flipkart picks up stake in Shadowfax the startup which will help it go hyperlocal

• Flipkart partook in a $60 million funding round in logistics platform Shadowfax.
  
• With this investment, Flipkart will focus on hyperlocal deliveries in partnership with Shadowfax.
  
• Shadowfax now plans to expand its investment to 1,000 cities and aims to become India's biggest logistics player.
  

Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart invested in logistics platform Shadowfax.

Shadowfax raised $60 million in the round, which was led by Flipkart. It also saw participation from Eight Roads Ventures, NGP Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Mirae Asset Naver Fund and World Bank-backed IFC.

“At Flipkart, we are focused on redefining customer experience, and hyperlocal is a key element to enable this transformation. We have seen strong synergies with Shadowfax through our existing engagement with them. Their investments in tech-enabled innovations will help us significantly reduce delivery time and provide superior customer experiences across product categories,” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, chief executive officer, Flipkart.

Flipkart already has a working partnership with Shadowfax.

Krishnamurthy added that the partnership with Shadowfax will help build a strong foundation for hyperlocal deliveries, by including kirana stores.

With the investment, the four year old startup Shadowfax now plans to expand to 1000 cities and aims to become India's biggest logistics player.

“With the new round of capital infusion, Shadowfax plans to invest extensively in building long- term capabilities which are essential to developing an efficient and superior service quality ecosystem in Indian logistics. With our proprietary technology and best-in-class platform, we are committed to creating a million micro-entrepreneurs in the next five years,” said Abhishek Bansal, chief executive officer, Shadowfax.

In November, Flipkart invested in EasyRewardz, customer engagement and rewards platform.

In March 2019, Flipkart launched an early stage startup fund. According to the company, the fund’s investments will focus on companies working in areas related to e-commerce, FinTech, payments and complementary spaces.