CDC Group infuses $20 mn funding in Ecom Express

Ecom Express recently invested $11 million (about Rs 80.6 crore) in Bangladesh's largest third-party e-commerce logistics (3PL) firm, Paperfly.

Mumbai: The UK-based impact investor CDC Group on Tuesday announced that it has closed a $20 million investment round in tech-enabled logistics platform Ecom Express. The group’s latest commitment will support Ecom Express in advancing the company’s sustainable development and impact agenda of enhancing skills and boosting job creation in the country’s hinterlands, a release said.

Additionally, Ecom Express will be utilizing the equity infusion by CDC Group investments for strategic initiatives such as growth-driven capital expenditure, working capital requirements, new business initiatives, expansions, and potential strategic acquisitions/partnerships, it said. This will be the group’s second round of funding to the end-to-end logistics services provider after its initial investment in December 2019.

With the high demands for jobs in India, the country needs to create 8.1 million jobs a year to maintain its employment rate, the release stated. This investment supports India’s effort as it will enable Ecom Express to create 8,000 new jobs in addition to an initial target of 15,000 roles – prioritising employing women for jobs at delivery centres, fulfilment centres and warehouses across the nation, it said.

Ecom Express recently invested $11 million (about Rs 80.6 crore) in Bangladesh’s largest third-party e-commerce logistics (3PL) firm, Paperfly. Through this investment, Ecom Express entered Bangladesh marking its maiden venture outside India, after having covered the length and breadth of the country reaching over 1.2 billion people daily.

“We are extremely pleased to have a continued partnership with CDC. This fresh infusion of capital will enable us to further strengthen our network, infrastructure, operations, and technological prowess while assuring support to our next levels of growth” said T A Krishnan, co-founder and chief executive officer, Ecom Express.

Ecom Express has its presence in all states of the country and operates in over 2,650 towns across 27,000+ PIN-codes in the country while CDC Group is the UK’s impact investor with over 70 years of experience of successfully supporting the sustainable, long-term growth of businesses in South Asia and Africa.