Shiprocket becomes India’s 106th unicorn after raising $33.5 million which is about Rs.270 Crore from a Series E2 round fresh funding round led by Lightrock India. The start-up raised a round of investment almost 10 months after Shiprocket raised $185 Million from food delivery giant Zomato and Lightrock India. In this recent round of funding the company is valued at $1.3 Billion. Start-ups valued at $1 Billion or more are termed as Unicorns.

About Shiprocket

Shiprocket was launched in 2017, and has delivered packets to more than 66 million consumers annually and is growing 3 times year by year. The company was founded by Sahil Goel, Vishesh Khurana, Gautam Kapoor and Akshay Gulati. It is a tech enabled e-commerce platform which connects merchants, consumers, and supply chain partners to create a hussle free shipping experience. Its shipping solutions are available on more than 29,000 pincodes and 220 destinations worldwide.

Recent acquisition by Shiprocket

Last month, shiprocket acquired omni channel commerce company Arvind Internet Limited's technology business called ‘omuni’ for 200 Crore in a stock and cash deal. Shiprocket also acquired a major stake in Pickrr which is an e-commerce software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for D2C brands and SME e-tailers for nearly Rs 1,560 Crore.

India has the third highest number of unicorns

India is home to more than 100 unicorns and only 5 logistics start ups are unicorns prior Shiprocket viz, Delhivery, Xpressbees, Elasticrun, Blackbuck and Rivigo. As per data from Inc42, 87 percent of unicorns in India are headquartered in Bengaluru, Delhi NCR and Mumbai.

Globally, India has the third highest largest startup ecosystem after the US and China. Startups today are not only limited to metros or big cities and over 49 percent of them are from Tier II and III cities, emerging in the fields like IT, agriculture, aviation, education , energy , health and space sectors.

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