Ecom Express gets $36 mn equity investment from UK govt's CDC Group

December 12, 2019: The UK government-owned development finance institution, CDC Group announced a $36 million equity investment in the tech-enabled Indian logistics company, Ecom Express.

Ecom Express has a network reaching over 90% of India’s population, with more than 85% of its presence in Tier 2/3/4 cities and hinterlands. The network connects sellers and consumers in the e-commerce industry.

Srini Nagarajan, managing director and head of Asia, CDC, said: “In Ecom Express, we have a partner company that recognises the vital importance of creating a genuinely sustainable and gender-inclusive business. I am delighted that, through our expertise in impact investing in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, we will be adding value far beyond our capital contribution.

We are dedicated to responsibly investing our capital in India, with over $1.7 billion currently committed to local businesses. We have the same amount again to invest over the next few years and look forward to working with many more businesses that are as environmentally and socially conscious as Ecom Express”.

T.A. Krishnan, co-founder and chief executive officer, Ecom Express said, “We are truly delighted to welcome CDC as our partner. The infusion of capital will help us further expand our delivery footprint in connecting towns and rural centres across the country. Besides expanding reach, the company plans to invest in technology, deploy advanced parcel sortation systems, strengthen network reliability and infrastructure, and finally, make development impact with job creation, environmentally responsible initiatives and gender diversity. These initiatives will help us deliver superior customer experience and build a scalable and sustainable business. We look forward to leveraging CDC’s expertise in driving businesses with socially responsible and environmental initiatives and the firm’s global network of relationships.”

According to the CDC, the move intends to help the development of smaller, harder to reach towns as they are brought into the e-commerce network, giving local people access to goods and services.

“The fund, as part of the initiatives, will work with Ecom Express to transition a proportion of its distribution fleet to electric vehicles and sponsor a road safety programme for its drivers and fleet operators,” says the release.