Ekart Logistics
Founded: 2009
Founders: Binny Bansal
Financing status: USD 257 million
Flipkart has infused USD 257 million in Ekart Logistics, its own logistics subsidiary operated by Instakart Services Pvt. Ltd. This news is according to records recently submitted to the Indian Corporate Affairs Ministry regarding the transaction, as per Indian business law.
The infusion was carried out by Singapore-based Klick2Shop Logistics Services International Pte in several separate transactions over the course of several months near the end of 2017. These include amounts of USD 50.8 million on October 9th, USD 50.8 million on November 7, and USD 154 million on November 27.
Ekart is India’s largest logistics and supply chain company. Functioning as the logistics appendage of Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart, Ekart primarily handles issues relating to order fulfilment, post-delivery, and seller services. Once a major vendor on the ecommerce platform, Ekart was acquired by Flipkart Group in 2015 from its original operator, WS Retail Services.
According to its website, Ekart completes more than 10 million deliveries each month to more than 3800 pin codes across India. With Ekart’s in-house assistance in logistics and supply chains, Flipkart has witnessed significant growth and the implementation of service innovations that include Cash on Delivery, In-a-day guarantee (available in 50 cities), and Same-day guarantee (available in 13 cities).
Flipkart is India’s leading ecommerce site. With a team of more than 20,000 employees, it claims to offer more than 20 million products across more than 70 categories including electronics, beauty products, housingwears, and more. Ekart is a crucial component of Flipkart, helping to make delivery of all these products efficient and affordable. According to Flipkart’s website, the platform has 26 million registered users and witnesses more than 8 million daily visits to its web portal.
Other players in India’s ecommerce world include Amazon, Snapdeal, Myntra, among others.
(Top image from Ekartlogistics.com)
