Teachers’ Venture Growth, the late-stage venture and growth investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, invests USD 80 million in Xpressbees
Pune, November 7, 2023 – Xpressbees, one of India’s market-leading and fastest growing third-party end-to-end logistics platforms, announced today that Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), the late-stage venture and growth investment arm of the C$249 billion Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has made a US$ 80 million investment in Xpressbees. This investment will be used to help drive further growth for the Xpressbees platform and support the company’s strong management team with their future ambitions. This marks Ontario Teachers’ first investment in India from the TVG platform. TVG joins a marquee set of investors in the company including Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth, ChrysCapital, Khazanah Nasional Berhard, Alibaba Group, Elevation Capital, Investcorp, Norwest Venture Partners and Gaja Capital.
Xpressbees has been at the forefront of tech-led disruption in the logistics industry with its unique asset light model tailormade for India and has executed this in a highly capital efficient format. Xpressbees has gained significant market share from incumbents while maintaining its best-in-class SLAs through multiple tech interventions. It has helped scale multiple e-commerce platforms by providing an extremely efficient logistics solution and delivering happiness to their customers’ doorstep. With express logistics being the need of the hour for multiple industries, it has expanded focus across Pharma, Healthcare, Manufacturing and many other segments.
Through its subsidiary NimbusPost, Xpressbees is providing a SaaS based shipping aggregation platform for SME & D2C brands. It’s easy and reliable plug and play cost effective tech solution has resulted in NimbusPost being the second largest shipping aggregator platform. Today, it has 60,000+ clients and ships through 27 local and national courier partners. The company further intends to expand its suite of service offerings through selective inorganic acquisitions. It recently acquired TrackOn to enter SME/C2C courier services.
Speaking on the transaction, Amitava Saha, Founder & CEO Xpressbees said, “We believe the logistics sector is at the cusp of technological disruption and this is the right time to expand service offerings to address the growing needs of businesses and consumers. We are elated to partner with the TVG team who bring rich experience and a vast global network which will help as we scale our end-to-end platform to cater to the next level.”
Deepak Dara, Senior Managing Director and Head of India at Ontario Teachers’ said, “We are excited about the market opportunity for end-to-end logistics and supply chain solutions that can meet the needs of a diversified customer base across industries, including e-commerce in India. Led by a strong team, Xpressbees has established a highly scalable and efficient asset-light model with proven execution capabilities. We are delighted to partner with Amitava and the Xpressbess team in executing their vision to build an industry-leading business.”
Kelvin Yu, Senior Managing Director, Teachers’ Venture Growth said “Xpressbees aligns with our TVG thesis for Asia, of partnering with exceptional management teams looking to leverage technology to accelerate growth in an attractive end market that has a long runway for innovation and development. India is a critical market for our TVG Asia strategy, where we look to lead or co-lead rounds, and Xpressbees is a culmination of one such proprietary opportunity. We are excited to partner with Amitava and leverage our global network and playbook to drive long-term value creation for the business”
Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor on this transaction
About Xpressbees
Xpressbees is one of the fastest growing end-to-end logistics companies in India. Xpressbees has established itself as a full-service logistics organization across B2C Express, B2B Express, 3PL, Cross-border operations, Shipping aggregator and SME courier services. The company today is present across over 5,000 cities and towns, serving over 20,000 pin codes, and delivers over 1.5 million packages per day. Xpressbees now has over 100 hubs across India, more than 3 million sq. ft. of warehouse capacity, and operates across 52 airports in the country.
About Teachers’ Venture Growth
Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG) focuses on late-stage venture and growth equity investments in cutting-edge technology companies worldwide. We partner with founders with bold missions, looking to expand their product offering, scale geographically, and become the leaders in their markets. We bring long-term thinking and active investing to help build better businesses and a better world. We think globally and act locally through our direct office presence around the world.
TVG is part of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’) a global investor with net assets of $249.8 billion as at June 30, 2023. Ontario Teachers’ invests in more than 50 countries in a broad array of assets including public and private equities, fixed income, credit, commodities, natural resources, infrastructure, real estate and venture growth to deliver retirement income for 336,000 working members and pensioners.
With offices in Toronto, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai and San Francisco, our more than 400 investment professionals bring deep expertise in a broad range of sectors and industries. We are a fully funded defined benefit pension plan and have earned an annual total-fund net return of 9.4% since the plan’s founding in 1990. At Ontario Teachers’, we don’t just invest to make a return, we invest to shape a better future for the teachers we serve, the businesses we back, and the world we live in. For more information, visit otpp.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
