New Delhi, Oct. 24 -- Japenese financial group MUFG Bank, which is an investor in several Indian startups including adtech unicorn InMobi and quick commerce platform Zepto, is all set to add another homegrown unicorn to its portfolio, VCCircle has learnt.
The banking subsidiary of Japan's financial group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc (MUFG), is now making a fresh investment in logistics-tech unicorn Shiprocket as part of its ongoing fundraising process.
Besides Indian startups, MUFG Bank is also an investor in a few Indian financial firms including digital lending company DMI Finance and wealth and asset manager Neo Group.
To be sure, Shiprocket, which is backed by investors such as Temasek, Lightrock India, Tribe Capital, Info Edge, 100Unicorns (erstwhile 9Unicorns) and Bertelsmann India Investments, is reportedly in the process of raising around $120 million.
US-based conglomerate Koch Group, which is a limited partner of Shiprocket's existing investor Tribe Capital, is participating in the fundraising exercise through Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), VCCircle reported earlier this week.
Tribe Capital, too, is likely to join the fundraiser, as per a Mint report from August, which also suggested that the company is likely raising the capital at a valuation of around $1.1-1.2 billion valuation, consistent with its valuation in the previous round.
The ongoing round is reported to be a mix of primary and secondary share sales. Some of Shiprocket's early investors who could participate in the secondary transactions in the current round include Bertelsmann, Beenext, Digital Nirvana Fund, and Beenos.
Also, a few angel investors that become part of the cap table because of Shiprocket's acquisitions may exit in the ongoing transaction.
Meanwhile, early this week, Shiprocket reported that the company's loss widened to Rs 595 crore in the financial year through March 2024 from Rs 340 crore in the fiscal year before.
Founded in 2017 by Saahil Goel, Gautam Kapoor, and Vishesh Khurana, the logistics company also reported that its revenue increased by 21% to Rs 1,316 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,089 crore in FY23.
The company primarily offers logistics services to small-and medium-sized businesses, direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, and social commerce sellers across a variety of categories.
It had entered the unicorn club in 2022 after it raised Rs 260 crore from existing investors Temasek and Lightrock India. Its other investors include March Capital, Moore Ventures, Huddle, QED Innovation, Zomato, and Paypal Inc.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.