After 50 years, the Indian Postal Department has announced that its renowned Registered Post service will be discontinued. In order to modernise operations, the service will be phased down starting on September 1, 2025, as part of a strategic integration with Speed Post.
Impact on Users: Cost, Convenience, and Concerns
For more than 50 years, the Registered Post was a dependable, reasonably priced, and legally valid service. The service played a crucial role in the lives of millions of Indians by distributing key documents such as government letters, legal notices, and employment offers.
The decision was made in response to official data that revealed a 25% decline in registered products from 244.4 million in 2011–12 to 184.6 million in 2019–20. This decline was hastened by the use of digital technology and competition from e-commerce logistics and private couriers.
Speed Post Integration: What’s Changing?
All departments, courts, educational institutions, and users have been directed by the secretary and director general of the postal service to switch to the new system by September 1. By combining services under Speed Post, which has been in business since 1986, the merger seeks to increase tracking accuracy, delivery speed, and operating efficiency.
However, because Speed Post is more costly, questions have been raised regarding affordability. Speed Post starts at INR 41 for up to 50 grams, which is 20–25% more expensive than Registered Post, which has a beginning rate of INR 25.96 plus INR 5 for 20 grams.
Small business owners, farmers, and regular people who depend on reasonably priced services may be burdened by this pricing disparity in rural India, where post offices are essential for communication. According to officials, this modification is required to satisfy changing customer demands in the digital era.
Registered Post: A Legacy of Trust Since British Era
The shift has caused nostalgia among users, especially older generations and rural areas, who see Registered Post as a symbol of confidence, even though the Department of Posts guarantees that Speed Post will maintain essential functions like monitoring and acknowledgement.
The British colonial era is where Registered Post got its start as a dependable way to convey safe, legally acknowledged documents. It was widely utilised by government agencies, banks, and academic institutions and was prized for its affordability and proof of delivery.
It was a reliable way for government agencies, banks, courts, and educational institutions to guarantee documentation and compliance because proof of delivery and posting could be used in court.
In recent years, the courier business in India has witnessed a significant boom, driven by the growth of e-commerce and increased demand for online shopping. With the rapid expansion of the market, starting a courier business in India can be a lucrative opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs.
However, launching a courier business in India requires careful planning, research, and execution. From obtaining necessary licenses and permits to acquiring the right equipment and hiring reliable staff, there are several key steps to consider when starting a courier business in India.
This blog post discusses everything you need to know about the courier business and how to start a courier business. It also addresses concepts like proof of delivery and the challenges of sending food items through couriers. With an annual development rate of 25%,thecourier industry is estimated to be around INR4000 crore. There are about 2300 courier companies in India at present.
The courier business is about supplying goods from one locale to another in exchange for payment. A courier company delivers messages, packages, and mail. Parameters like speed, security, tracking service, and specialization decide a courier company’s popularity and influence.
Commencing a courier company as a career path is lucrative, but it requires investment and preparation. How are you going to secure the delivery, what are the different modes of transportation you’ll provide to customers, and what’s the refund scheme? With the right arrangements and effort, you can take your courier company to the next level.
Market Size of the Indian Courier Business
The graph illustrates the projected growth of the Indian courier, express, and parcel (CEP) market between 2024 and 2033. India’s Courier, Express, and Parcel (CEP) market was valued at USD 14,924.4 million in 2024. According to the IMARC Group, the market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.8% from 2025 to 2033, reaching USD 37,416.4 million by 2033.
Steps To Start A Courier Business In India
Starting a courier business requires careful planning and consideration of various factors such as target market, competition, pricing, and more. Here are some key steps to consider when starting a courier business:
Steps To Start A Courier Business In India
1. Initial Planning
Initial planning is a crucial aspect of a courier service in India.Decide your assistance area and the types of luggage you’ll accept. Finalize the different sections of the staff you’ll employ: customer service representatives, delivery boys, logistics helpers, accountants, legal aid, etc. What sort of packages your firm decides to transmit depends on your reserves. If you’re depending on a bicycle, you may need to restrict the courier services to miniature containers and envelopes.
If you have access to huge automobiles like pick-up trucks and vans, be prepared to make wealth through enormous deliveries. Keep in mind that laws are applicable to certain types of cartons. For example, medical welfare and industrial chemicals have certain handling procedures and care ordinances.
The next factor to consider is whether you will be operating inter-state, intra-state, or both. While automobiles allow you to undertake road-based deliveries, do you have any other alternative in mind? What happens when the highways are closed? If you have the money and resources to engage transportation mechanisms like railways, airways, and shipping, then be ready with backup plans. It’s good to have a number of alternatives at hand. Do you expect the transmission of parcels across geographies? What are you going to do when your courier business is dry on capital? These are some additional questions you need to answer.
A particular courier business may be easier to govern as coast-to-shore liberation can be valuable, and you would be dealing with vast corporations. Spend some time figuring out how distant your labor range can be before taking action.
Unless you have extensive knowledge about a specific business, it’s uncertain that you’ll be able to organize all the facets of a related enterprise alone. It’s preferred to include a mixture of consultants to ascertain the phases of your courier business. Discuss the business with an attorney who is aware of the messenger service industry and will notify you of the consequences. These include regional zoning constitutions, which are particularly crucial if you operate the industry from your residence.
Ask an accountant to instruct you on how to protect your business documents, tariff filings, the adepts and hoaxes of workers versus autonomous contractors, and arrange an analysis policy. You will crave to comprehend how buyers can reimburse and what sort of credit cards, reviews, and other expenditure choices are acceptable.
Confer an insurance specialist to urge you to collect reasonable business security for your department. Business security is more than just marketable vehicle coverage, cargo insurance, and employee compensation insurance. If desired, add health insurance as well.
Spend some time arranging the appliances/resources as you stride through the introductory phase of beginning your company. Decide on the automobiles you’ll employ. If you’re only transmitting messages or small packets, contemplate using motorcycles or small cars. If you’re transferring enormous commodities, you may need to use large baggage trucks.
You may need to procure a business loan to incur the expense of procuring delivery vehicles. Cellphones, clipboards, graphs, and GPS networks are vital for the courier business. If you want your employees to wear uniforms, that’s another factor you need to consider.
You’ll also need to spend money on marketing mechanisms. In the beginning, it’s imperative to build brand awareness among people about your courier company. Some marketing requirements include having a website, contact mechanism, and social media presence.
Above all, you need to have one or more warehouses to stock the inventory and to handle intermediate requirements.
Consider monthly payments. Spend some time totaling what your monthly costs can be. This data can be useful down the road when agreeing on how many customers you can acquire.
For a courier business, your major monthly outlay will be vehicle insurance, cargo insurance, and energy. There may be unique expenses considering your subjective courier business plan. Prepare a list of probable payments you may confront each month to enable you to calculate your entire monthly cost.
Evaluate items like earnings, transactions, and publicity utilities to get a clearer picture of everything that falls under expenses.
Decide how much to charge after contemplating your monthly expenses and other characteristics. Expend some time revising the rates you will indict as a firm. Considering your locale to be in an enormous municipal region, you will have to indict more to give rise to revenue.
You should analyze your competitors to get an impression of regular taxes. You should also research your victim market. If you announce the service of transmitting equipment and groceries in a university town, your taxes may differ from that incurred when supplying the same in an upscale area.
If you are providing expensive heirlooms and tall hierarchy items in a prosperous suburb, you can charge more. With the benefit of an accountant, see what you need to charge to generate sufficient revenue.
Once your courier company’s name has been established, you can tweak rates and prices to reap additional wealth. If you want help with managing business operations, you may want to enroll a specialist.
6. Marketing Your Courier Service Business
Effective marketing plays a vital role in attracting customers. Key strategies include building a strong online presence with a professional website and active social media engagement, using SEO, content marketing, and paid ads to boost visibility, and forming partnerships with local businesses and online retailers to expand reach.
7. Franchising Option
Franchising can be an excellent option for starting a courier business, especially if you’re new to the industry or prefer to have the support and guidance of an established brand. When you invest in a courier franchise or courier agency, you’re essentially purchasing a proven business model that has already been tested and refined by the franchisor. You can look out for the Best Courier & Delivery Franchise Businesses in India.
8. Build a Courier Tracking App
Contact a software development company to create a courier tracking app designed for customer convenience. This app will eliminate vague delivery estimates by providing precise delivery timings for each parcel. It will also offer customers real-time parcel tracking and updates for a seamless experience.
Importance of Giving Proof of Delivery
Loyal customers are the key to a successful business. To sustain them, it is vital to offer good service. Sellers must make sure that the parcel reaches the exact person. Proof of delivery (POD) is an acknowledgment that the consignee has obtained the parcel. Providing proof of delivery (POD) is a critical aspect of the courier business, as it not only ensures that the customer has received their package but also protects the courier company from potential disputes or legal issues. Here are some key reasons why giving proof of delivery is important:
Customer satisfaction: When a customer orders a package, they want to be sure that it has been delivered safely and on time. Providing proof of delivery assures customers that their package has been delivered to the correct address and at the right time, which helps to build trust and loyalty.
Dispute resolution: In the event of a dispute, proof of delivery can help to resolve any issues or discrepancies between the customer and the courier company. For example, if a customer claims that they did not receive their package, the courier company can provide the POD as evidence of delivery and refute the claim.
Legal protection: Proof of delivery can protect the courier company from potential legal issues or liability. For instance, if a customer claims that their package was lost or stolen, the POD can be used as evidence that the package was delivered to the correct address and received by the intended recipient.
Operational efficiency: POD is an essential tool for tracking and managing deliveries, as it helps to ensure that all packages are accounted for and delivered on time. By using digital technologies like mobile devices, barcode scanning, and electronic signatures, courier companies can streamline their delivery processes and improve operational efficiency.
The parcel reaching the right customer is the secret sauce of maintaining a successful courier business. The destination may be an office or a home, but if the recipient isn’t there, the only option is to leave the parcel at the door. With POD, it’s simple to allege on parcel delivery. POD solves delivery issues between the customer and the seller.
Types of POD
Paper POD – the signature of the recipient is taken on paper.
E-POD – a digital signature of the receiver is taken. It’s simple to handle an E-POD, and a copy of it can be easily sent to the shipper. Hence, POD enables hassle-free last-mile delivery.
Challenges of Delivering Food Commodities via Courier Aid
Before shipping, have a fundamental intention of storing food items and other perishable things.
Utilize barely dried food ingredients: Food items are susceptible to decay. Use warmed food components to avoid decaying. Store moist food commodities in airtight containers and have a smaller transit moment.
Packaging: Good product packaging carries the freshness of the diet or toasted treats. Tight cooler stores keep the commodity of your packet refrigerated during transfer. While packing biscuits/chocolates, ensure there are no spaces between individual units. Coat fresh food items with tissue paper and stuffed paper to cover the area in between them.
Prepare for the transit – Choose carefully: Choose a shipping firm that gives valid assistance and provides protected, on-time, and cost-effective deliveries. If you’re exporting perishable food items, choose the shipping company that proposes refrigerators for commodity items.
Starting a courier business in India can be a rewarding venture, but it requires careful planning and execution. From securing the necessary permits and licenses to acquiring the right equipment and hiring reliable staff, there are several key steps to consider when launching a courier business in India.
By following the step-by-step guide outlined in this blog, you can position yourself for success in this growing market. With the continued growth of e-commerce and online shopping in India, the demand for courier services is only expected to increase, providing ample opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to start a courier business. Starting a courier agency business can be a profitable venture by providing reliable delivery services and building strong customer relationships.
Remember, running a successful courier business requires a commitment to delivering packages safely and on time, strong customer service skills, and attention to detail. It is very difficult to start a courier business with no money. However, with the right strategy and execution, you can build a profitable and sustainable courier business in India.
What is a courier business, or what is a courier service business?
A courier service is a service that allows someone to send a parcel or consignment from one location to another. Senders have the option to have their parcels collected by a courier or drop their parcels at a nearby location to be picked up later by the courier.
How to open courier service or courier office in India or how to start a courier service business or agency?
Following are the steps to open a courier services business in India:
Find investors from different sources and keep sufficient money in hand.
Legalize your businessas a private limited company in India.
Application for the registration of service tax.
Build a team and invest in service quality and training.
What are the things you must do before starting a courier business?
Items you must be done with before starting a courier business:
Develop a courier business plan.
Get reliable vehicles.
Organize a storage space.
Purchase equipment and materials.
Takeout business insurance.
Give your courier business a name.
Get a logo.
Consider the legal structure of your courier business.
What is the cheapest franchise to start in India?
Stratus Building Solutions.
SuperGlass Windshield Repair.
Mosquito Squad.
Property Management Inc.
Pillar to Post Home Inspectors.
How to start courier business in India?
Following are the steps to start a courier company in India:
Get and connect with a reliable source of transportation.
Invest in the right equipment.
Find a unique yet engaging name for your courier business.
Consider the appropriate insurance.
Market your business wisely and mark your presence.
How to apply courier service license in India?
Get a courier license by creating a name for your courier company.
Contact the local municipal government office to get the courier license form.
Fill in the application form with accurate information.
Submit it to the license bureau.
Is the courier business profitable in India?
Yes, courier service is a great business idea in today’s time. It is a business idea with low investment and high profit. Maintaining a courier company is an excellent career prospect as well.
What are the courier business ideas?
Some courier business ideas: Food delivery, fruits and grocery delivery, laundry and dry-cleaning service, bicycle service courier, Furniture delivery and assembly, etc.
How can I get a low-investment franchise business in India?
Steps to consider before buying a low-investment franchise business in India:
Research
Identify individual franchise companies
Franchise qualification requirements
Submit a request for consideration/application
Study franchise disclosure document
Disclosure period
Visit existing franchisees
Visit franchisor
How to start courier service franchise in India, or how to develop a franchise business in India?
Steps to set up a franchise in India with low investment:
Determine the niche
Completing the formalities
Ownership
Licensing
Registration
Human resource requirements
Paying taxes
Managing currency risks
Which is the best franchise business to start in India?
Best franchises: Affinity Salon Franchise, DTDC Franchise, Giani’s Franchise, Lenskart Franchise, FabIndia Franchise, and Kake Di Hatti Franchise.
How to start international courier business in India?
To start an international courier business in India:
Research & Plan: Understand the market, target audience, and competitors.
Legal Requirements: Register your business, obtain GST registration, and secure necessary licenses like IATA or CHA.
Build Network: Partner with international logistics companies for global reach.
Set Up Infrastructure: Arrange warehouses, vehicles, and tracking systems.
Technology: Develop a website and app for order management and tracking.
Pricing & Services: Offer competitive rates and value-added services like express delivery.
Marketing: Promote through digital and traditional channels to attract customers.
How to start a courier business with no money?
Starting a courier business with no money requires creativity and resourcefulness. Begin by offering delivery services locally using your own vehicle or bike. Partner with small businesses or online sellers to handle their deliveries. Focus on providing excellent service to build trust and attract referrals. Use free or low-cost tools for managing orders and tracking deliveries. As you grow, reinvest earnings to expand your services and scale the business.
How to take courier service agency in India?
To start a courier service agency in India, first choose a reputed courier company like DTDC, Delhivery, Blue Dart, or India Post. Visit their website and apply for a franchise or partnership. You’ll need a small office space, basic infrastructure (computer, printer), and a few delivery staff. Submit required documents like ID proof, address proof, and sometimes a security deposit. Once approved, you’ll receive training, branding support, and software access to begin operations.
What is courier service registration?
Courier service registration is the process of legally setting up a courier business in India. It involves choosing a business structure, getting necessary licenses like GST and trade license, and meeting local regulatory requirements. This allows you to operate officially, partner with logistics firms, and offer delivery services legally.
The growth of the e-commerce industry impacted the courier business. Due to more shopping in the eCommerce platform courier business is becoming one of the fastest-growing markets in India nowadays. Courier and delivery companies provide various services starting from the online courier and cargo marketplace and finishing with logistics. There aremany courier and delivery franchises in India. Courier services are distinguished from mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, and specialization. They operate on all scales from within specific towns or cities to regional, national, and global services.
With a wide range of courier franchise options available in India, it can be challenging to choose the best one. In this blog, we will explore some of the best courier and delivery franchise business options in India that offer a lucrative opportunity for individuals interested in starting their own business. We will discuss all of the important aspects that can help you make an informed decision and take the first step toward a successful entrepreneurial journey.
DTDC empowers courier delivery services in India. Being one of the oldest and best courier services in the country established back in 1990, DTDC/DTDC Express Limited, or Desk to Desk Courier & Cargo, was founded by Subhasish Chakraborty headquartered in Mumbai, and handles over 12 million shipments every month. It has become a leading courier service provider, offering domestic and international courier services, e-commerce logistics solutions, and warehousing services.
The franchise model is designed to be easy to set up and operate, and DTDC provides extensive training and support to franchisees. Through its affordable franchise framework, DTDC met customers’ needs for access to technology, a place to store their goods, and expert advice. To become a DTDC franchisee, you need to have a minimum investment of around INR 2 to 3 lakhs, depending on the location and size of the franchise. The franchisee is also required to have a minimum space of 200 to 500 sq. ft, depending on the type of franchise. DTDC offers different types of franchise models, including master franchise, super franchise, and unit franchise, each with different investment requirements and benefits. It is the top e commerce delivery franchise in India.
Now, DTDC has more than 12,000 partners all over the country who are doing well. The franchisee’s field staff can get training at DTDC’s branch offices on a wide range of operational problems.
In case you are looking for a reputed courier service franchise, then DTDC is a great option!
Ship n’ Fly Open Market is India’s first-ever online courier and cargo marketplace which connects customers with customer-reviewed delivery companies. Established in 2014, the franchise aims to provide affordable and reliable courier services to customers across the country. Ship n’ Fly provides a transparent, collaborative, trustworthy environment and produces the best results for customers, colleagues, and partners. It has created an opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs and businessmen to get associated with us in the form of a franchise. It is classified as a Non-govt company and is registered at RoC-Cuttack.
To become a Ship n’ Fly franchisee, you need to have a minimum investment of around INR 5 to 10 lakhs, depending on the location and size of the franchise. The franchisee is also required to have a minimum space of 300 to 500 sq. ft, depending on the type of franchise.
With its focus on eco-friendly courier services and the support of a strong franchise model, a Ship n’ Fly franchisee can enjoy a profitable business with a high potential for growth.
In 1999, InXpress was founded in Rochdale, a city in the UK. Originally, founder John Thompson managed the company out of his Rochdale bedroom. The company first joined the American market in 2006 and then expanded to Australia and New Zealand shortly after. There are 440 franchisees operating this courier service in 14 different countries, serving a total of 30,000 clients. InXpress is a global shipping franchise organization delivering great carrier solutions to small and medium-sized businesses for domestic and international companies. It is not a retail shipping franchise, rather it is a business-to-business franchise, which means that its primary customers are other businesses. The franchise offers discounted shipping rates and customized shipping solutions to its customers. InXpress shipping solutions are facilitated by industry-leading technology that allows you to build a flexible business with the support of a global franchise system.
To become an InXpress franchisee, you would need to meet certain requirements, such as having a minimum net worth and liquid capital, as well as passing a background check. InXpress provides training and ongoing support to its franchisees, including assistance with marketing and sales. It is a profitable courier company franchise.
As the industry leader in disruptive technology, InXpress gives its franchisees an advantage. InXpress can offer reasonable pricing thanks to its extensive network of reliable courier partners. This frees up the investors to focus on growing their business.
Top Courier Franchise in India – Day Xpress Courier and Cargo Services
Day Xpress Services Pvt Ltd. was founded in Mysore in 2015. The Day Xpress Courier and Cargo Services are one of the up-and-coming dispatch and load administrations of South India in the present market. It provides the best services of courier, parcel delivery, and bulk distribution delivering at a cheaper cost compared to other domestic courier and Cargo companies in Karnataka, India. This organization can offer cost-efficient, hassle-free, and prompt logistics solutions.
By offering franchises, Day Xpress Courier & Cargo Services encourages ambitious young people to launch their businesses. This courier franchise assists in the form of training, assistance with business setup, a manual outlining daily operations, and continuous business advice. Plus, the investor doesn’t have to worry about lacking the necessary abilities to run the franchise because the training they receive from the franchisor will take care of that.
Xpressbees was founded by Amitava Saha in September 2015 and has exhibited clear growth since then. Hailed as one of the fastest-growing courier franchise, delivery, and express logistics service providers, Xpressbees has witnessed close to 100% growth in revenue on a year-to-year basis. Xpressbees is headquartered in Mumbai and successfully delivers 50,000 shipments a day. XpressBees has a huge network that helps with more than 3 million packages going to more than 20,000 pin codes every year and is one of the top courier franchises in India. It is in the list of the top 10 courier franchise in India.
This courier franchise has a network of over 3,500 service centers, 150 hubs, and more than 28,000 committed Field Service Representatives. This makes it very easy to meet the wide range of evolving logistical needs of its valued customers.
Four engineers—Suraj Saharan, Mohit Tandon, Bhavesh Manglani, and Kapil Bharati—started Delhivery in 2011. It didn’t take long for Delhivery to become India’s top B2B, B2C, and C2C logistics company by offering low-cost storage, transportation, and eCommerce services.
Delhivery has become India’s leading supply chain services company that provides e-commerce fulfillment, express courier, and reverse logistics services. It is the backbone of the logistics industry. Delhivery vision is to become the operating system for eCommerce in India, through a combination of world-class infrastructure, logistics operations of the highest quality, and cutting-edge engineering and technology capabilities. Delhivery had switched completely to offering logistics services to several eCommerce companies. It is one of India’s largest B2B & B2C logistic courier service providers India.
Delhivery has two types of franchises: one is a delivery center, and the other is a transport booking center. One needs to spend INR 10 to 15 lakh on a transport center and have 300 to 400 square feet of land to run their business. On the other hand, one can start a mail booking center with just INR 2 to 3 lakh, and he/she can run his/her business out of a small 70- to 80-square-foot space.
Blue Dart was started by Clyde Cooper, Tushar Jani, and Khushroo Dubash with INR 30,000. Within a 200-square-foot area under a staircase, Blue Dart was created to send small packages and samples to help India’s exports grow. Blue Dart made connections with Gelco Fast International in the UK and started India’s first air package fast service between countries.
Blue Dart or Blue Dart Express, as it is popularly known, was founded in 1983 and is a subsidiary of DHL and DHL Express (Singapore) Pte Ltd. Blue Dart is an Indian logistics company, well-known for its courier and delivery services. They do offer franchise opportunities for their courier services in India. The exemplary delivery franchise also has a cargo airline subsidiary that goes by the name, Blue Dart Aviation.
The investment required for setting up a Blue Dart courier franchise in India depends on the location, whether it is a city, state, or rural area, and the size of the commercial setup. In 2 or 3-tier cities, the investment ranges between ₹2 lakhs and ₹5 lakhs. The real estate prices in different cities and states will also influence the commercial value of the premises, affecting the overall costs of setting up the franchise. Besides the premises, the franchise will require a necessary number of vehicles, usually two-wheelers, and an appropriate number of staff members to operate the business.
For investors, opening a Bluedart business in India could be a good idea because the company makes more than $700 million (₹52,01,02,45,000+) a year around the world. In addition to offering franchise business, this courier franchise teaches management skills, such as how to handle real-time bookings as well.
In 2013, Hanzala Nadaf established King Worldwide. A well-respected national brand, this courier franchise is well-known for its friendly service. King Worldwide is the largest domestic and international delivery network in India. It had been a pioneer in doing business through a franchise in the courier and cargo business. King Worldwide is a National brand and is known for its goodwill. King Worldwide gives assured profit and has the potential for continuous growth. It provides regular training for you and your employees for international products. Also, it offers multimodal services to easily deliver from a letter to bulk shipments.
Currently, around 400 King Worldwide stores can be found in India. The single-unit booking office model accounts for 75% of King Worldwide’s revenue, reaching 95% of the network, and fulfilling the dreams of middle-class people. King Worldwide’s MBO franchise is its most important unit, and it can be established in various ways. It functions as an autonomous unit within a city or district with one or more reporting franchises. To rephrase, it serves the same purpose as an expanded branch and is accountable for the expansion of the company in that area. King Worldwide is one of the fastest-growing franchises in India.
Shadowfax Technologies Limited is a Bengaluru-based crowdsourced delivery platform. Shadowfax was originally founded in 2015 as a last-mile food delivery business. Abhishek Bansal, Vaibhav Khandelwal, Praharsh Chandra, and Gaurav Jaithliya started Shadowfax, an app that helps businesses use technology to make customers happy by delivering food, medicines, and products purchased through online shopping. Shadowfax has emerged as a promising delivery franchise that operates in over 500 cities across India and offers a range of delivery services, including same-day, next-day, and express delivery. The company also offers technology solutions, such as a mobile app and API integration, to help streamline the delivery process.
As a franchisee of Shadowfax, individuals receive training and support from the company to help them set up and run their business. Franchisees are responsible for managing their own delivery personnel, vehicles, and operations, while also adhering to the company’s standards and guidelines.
Some of Shadowfax’s backers include Qualcomm Ventures, International Finance Corporation, Flipkart, NGP Capital, and Mirae Asset Global Investments. In addition to handling the distribution of online orders, making money, and supervising franchisees’ delivery partners, this e-commerce delivery franchise offers a training program and grants access to an HR portal. The franchisee must have a well-established network of reliable technology, including computers, printers, and delivery drivers.
Top Courier Franchise in India – Shree Venkateshwara Cargo Express
Shree Venkateshwara Cargo Express is India’s leading door-to-door express distribution specialist offers integrated express distribution and customized supply chain solutions to customers across diverse industries. Shree Venkateshwara Cargo Express introduces itself as a single solution provider for all the procurement and distribution needs of the industry. Shree Venkateshwara Cargo Express believes that logistics plays a crucial role in any industry. It gives more focus on the cost and efficiency of any industrial operation. It has seamless connectivity across air, rail, and road with the widest branch network has resulted in many opportunities for customers.
Franchisees are provided with training, guidance, and operational support from the company to help them establish and grow their businesses. They are responsible for managing their own delivery personnel, vehicles, and operations while adhering to the company’s standards and guidelines.
Top Courier Franchise in India – SpreadWings Courier & Cargo
SpreadWings Courier & Cargo is the sole company that offers an excellent platform for young entrepreneurs with minimal capital in hand and also strives for their training. SpreadWings Courier & Cargo is one of the leading companies that offers Courier, Cargo & International Shipments door to door to esteemed customers. It has proven itself as the sole courier cargo service provider in India and abroad. It’s a mission to be the world-class technology-driven and customer-focused market leader in courier and logistics. SpreadWings Courier & Cargo fulfills the needs of time-critical or permanent recurring services.
Located in Mumbai, Pick Me Express came into being in 2015. Pick Me Express relies on its daily delivery of time-sensitive consignments and parcels. The success of Pick Me Express is the skills and common goals that every member of their team shares. It has many years of experience in the logistics industry at the senior level, in operations, key account management, sales, and business development. This franchise is dedicated to providing every customer with exceptional service.
Many senior-level employees of this courier franchise have worked in the logistics industry for many years, and the company itself has a lengthy history of success. Pick Me Express franchise is an excellent opportunity for entry-level business ownership, regardless of whether one has prior business experience or not. Individuals with a strong focus on customer service would be an ideal fit for the Pick Me Express Franchisee role. Franchisees collect and deliver packages within their designated zones. Pick Me Express is one of the low-cost franchises in India.
As a Pick Me Express franchisee, individuals can operate within an exclusive territory, collecting and delivering parcels in their designated area. This provides a great opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to establish a courier and logistics business with the support and guidance of an established brand.
P. Santhamurthy of Coimbatore founded Elbex Couriers Private Limited in 2012. Across the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh, this courier franchise has expanded rapidly, and it now operates with 30 own branches and 300+ franchisee outlets. Elbex Couriers Private Limited (ELBEX) is India’s fastest-growing brand in the courier & logistics world.
ELBEX offers multiple franchise opportunities :
Regional Franchise (State-wise operations)
Area Franchise (Region wise comprising 4/5 districts)
Super Franchise (District Wise)
Unit Franchise (Pin code / Taluk wise)
It is based on the investment and working capacity of the business aspirants. It serves customers with various service products to meet customer logistics requirements. The company also has tied up with all major international service providers to ensure cost-effective, time-bound services to all parts of the world.
In addition to its focus on customer service, Elbex Couriers offers its thousands of young, ambitious entrepreneurs and job-seekers in India excellent business and career prospects to become service associates. By becoming a Master Franchisee, Super Franchisee, or Unit Franchisee, the channel partners are granted the opportunity to operate inside a specific territory. At the franchisee level, the two mainstays of branch operations are pick-ups and deliveries, which are handled sequentially.
Top Courier Franchise in India – Super Fast Logistics Pvt. Ltd.
Super Fast Logistics Pvt. Ltd. is an expert in logistics services. It not only provides domestic and international mail services but also specialized value-added services like Customized Logistics Solutions (CLS) including warehousing, letter shopping, and fulfillment, variable data printing, as well as integrated business solutions, including mailroom management solutions, digitization, archiving services. Super Fast Logistics courier has in its workforce, highly experienced and professional personnel, having the highest level of commitment and who believe in personalized service to their customers.
With e-commerce shopping being at an all-time high with no signs of stopping, it is wise to look into a courier service franchise soon. We hope this list gives you an idea about where to start!
Vinoth Poovalingam started Flipkart’s outbound shipping company under the brand name eKart and it has changed the game. Ekart is run by Instakart Services Pvt. Ltd. Ekart was founded in 2009 and was taken over by Flipkart from WS Retail Services. The company is as trusted as Flipkart itself when it comes to its courier service franchise. Ekart boasts of delivering around 10 million shipments per month and most of their orders, around 85%, come from Flipkart.
Ekart has helped Flipkart grow by coming up with new services like cash-on-delivery, in-a-day guarantee (50 cities), and same-day guarantee (13 cities). With its new ideas for better delivery services for Flipkart users, this eCommerce courier franchise has recently teamed up with Tata CliQ and Voonik to meet the growing needs of couriers and build trust among customers. With the help of inventory management software, tracking orders has become easier and faster, thanks to advanced technology offered by eKart making it one of the top 10 courier services in India.
Top Courier Franchise in India – The Professional Couriers
The Professional Couriers has been serving as a courier service franchise since November 1, 1987, when the company was incorporated. Large-scale courier service hardly really existed till then when TPC came into being. Headquartered in Mumbai, TPC opened its first International Subsidiary Company – M/s The Professional International Couriers Pvt. Ltd back in 1999, thereby opening their International Operations Hub in all metro cities. The company further expanded with new entities like The Professional Couriers USA Inc., New York/USA, Professional Couriers LLC., Dubai/UAE, Professional Couriers Pte Ltd., Singapore in 2009.
Top Courier Franchise in India – MAX Courier Franchise
MAX courier franchise is a delivery franchise that deals with Ecommerce delivery franchise, document delivery, parcel delivery, and more. Boasting more than 750 branches across India, Max Courier started its operations in 2014 and eventually started its franchise 3 years later in 2017. It is an investible courier business franchise.
Top Courier Franchise in India – Overnite Express Ltd
Overnite Express Ltd, simply called Overnite Express, is a courier franchise in India, headquartered in New Delhi. Overnite Express has been associated with transport, cargo, and other courier services across the country and is currently known as a major player in the same space. The company claims to deliver 1.5 lakhs+ parcels each day and reaches out to over 1,100 cities with its 3,000+ branches distributed all over the country.
Gojavas is a Gurgaon-based logistics and supply-chain startup founded in 2013. According to the vision of Gojavas, the company aims to emerge as an industry leader and provide trustworthy, time-bound logistics and supply-chain solutions to all of its business partners. The company strongly believes in its motto, “delivering a million smiles” and is onwards to cement its presence in the fast-paced e-commerce industry as a delivery franchise.
In 2016, Rahul Chutani established Last Mile Xpress in the Delhi NCR area.It is an Indian courier franchise that takes care of the courier and delivery requirements of individuals from across the country. Last Mile Xpress also boasts professional pick-up and delivery services, which it extends to B2B and B2C customers. Their services range from bike-based to Eeco car/Tata Ace-based pick and delivery requirements.
The courier franchise gives investors the chance to join its network of franchises. With minimal outlay of capital and collateral. Last Mile Xpress is currently serving the National Capital Region (NCR), which includes cities such as Delhi, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad, Ballabgarh, Palwal, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. Investors can monitor the outlet’s financial performance thanks to Last Mile Xpress’ strong technological structure.
Top Courier Franchise in India – Nonstop Courier and Cargo
Based in Chennai, Nonstop Courier and Cargo is designed to operate as a courier delivery franchise to ease the fulfillment of the pick-up and delivery requirements of customers from all around India. Nonstop Courier and Cargo takes utmost responsibility to professionally handle the pick-up and delivery orders coming from their customers without any delay.
Just Delivery is a logistics company recognized for its transportation, packers, and movers, loading, unloading, car transportation, and other services, which it offers to its customers from all around the country. The company claims to have customers from 2000+ companies that they work with in addition to other individuals who approach the company and it is considered as a profitable courier agency franchise.
DHL was started in 1969 in San Francisco by Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom, and Robert Lynn. Across more than 220 countries and territories, 600,000 individuals work daily for this courier company, assisting customers in crossing borders, expanding into new markets, and boosting their business. With an investment range of around INR 2 to 5 lakhs, owning a DHL franchise is a promising business. A minimum of 250 to 300 square feet of space, whether owned or rented, is required to secure a DHL franchise in the desired location. But DHL also charges a franchise fee, which could be seen as a condition to open a franchise. DHL is one of the top franchises in India.
Ecom Delivery Limited is a top logistics company in India, providing end-to-end delivery solutions for retail and e-commerce businesses. It is based in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, and was founded in 2014 by Vanket Saye, Shivaram Singh, and K Uttam Jana, who have years of experience in logistics and distribution. The company serves e-commerce platforms, D2C brands, and both small and large online sellers.
With 12 offices, 150+ employees, and 30 channel partners, Ecom Delivery Logistics delivers for over 25,000 businesses and individuals.
Using advanced technology and automated systems, the company offers logistics services across 29 states and 6 union territories. It operates in 1100+ cities and towns, covering 18,600+ pin codes in India. Its main service, Ecom Delivery Logistics Services, includes first-mile pickup, processing, network operations, last-mile delivery, and handling returns.
Valmo is a trusted logistics provider in India, known for its transparency, affordability, and efficiency. It offers the lowest market prices, real-time tracking, timely deliveries, and 24/7 customer support. With nationwide coverage, Valmo ensures seamless shipping from cities to remote areas. Businesses seeking cost-effective and high-quality logistics solutions can rely on Valmo for a hassle-free experience. Getting a Valmo courier franchise is a profitable courier franchise business in India.
Conclusion
Courier and delivery services play a crucial role in today’s fast-paced world, providing efficient and timely transportation of goods and documents. The courier and delivery industry in India is growing rapidly, and there are many franchise opportunities available for individuals who want to start their own courier business.
By choosing the right courier franchise business, individuals can start their entrepreneurial journey with the support and resources of an established brand while also contributing to the growth and development of India’s logistics and transportation industry.
There is a high desire for these courier franchises to expand their reach since the market for courier services in India is predicted to increase by triple figures. While this market segment was previously very disorganized in India’s smaller towns and cities, things have changed thanks to the entry of several low-budget franchises, that have provided excellent opportunities for young entrepreneurs hailing from these areas to build successful brands.
FAQs
Which is the best courier franchise in India?
The top courier franchises in India are:
Ship n’ Fly
InXpress
DTDC
Delhivery
King Worldwide
Shadowfax
SpreadWings Courier & Cargo
Pick Me Express
Elbex Courier
Super Fast Logistics
What are the benefits of owning a courier franchise business in India?
Owning a courier and delivery franchise business in India provides numerous benefits, such as having access to an established brand name and systems, comprehensive training and support, and the opportunity to tap into a growing industry.
Is a courier business profitable?
Definitely! If done correctly, courier services will turn profitable in no time.
Is it expensive to start a courier franchise in India?
The cost of starting a courier and delivery franchise business in India varies depending on the franchise company, the size of the territory, and the type of services offered. Typically, the initial investment required ranges from a few lakhs to several crores of Indian Rupees.
What services do courier franchise businesses in India typically offer?
Courier franchise businesses in India typically offer a range of services, including same-day, next-day, and express delivery, logistics and supply chain solutions, and technology solutions such as mobile apps and online tracking.
When was DTDC founded?
DTDC was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Bengaluru.
Which are the best courier services from India to USA?
Some of the best courier services from India to the USA include:
Shiprocket
FedEx
DHL
Aramex
Ecom
India Post
DTDC
How to apply for a courier franchise in India?
To apply for a courier franchise in India, you should research courier and delivery franchise businesses in India and contact the franchisor of the courier company you are interested in. Discuss the franchise opportunity and complete the franchisor’s application form along with any required documentation or fees. The franchisor will review your application and contact you to discuss next steps. If approved, you will sign a franchise agreement and receive training and support to establish and operate your courier franchise business.
Is there any courier franchise without investment?
Finding a courier franchise with zero investment is rare, but ePostBook offers a unique opportunity with no franchise registration fees, allowing you to earn by providing shipping services.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations.
Logistics has always been an important sector for any country, including India, but the space had never seen such a ground-breaking turn before Delhivery came into being.Proving itself since 2011 as a great startup, this company is now a backbone for the logistics industry.
Delhivery is currently one of the leading players in the logistics space in the country.It offers a full suite of services such as last-mile delivery, third-party and transit warehousing, reverse logistics, payment collection, vendor-to-warehouse, vendor-to-customer shipping, and more.
Delhivery became a unicorn in 2019 when it raised $413 million in a Series F round led by SoftBank Vision Fund, Carlyle Group, and Fosun International. It was then valued at$1.5 billion. Delhivery was last been valued at $4.77 billion in May 2022.
Read this article to learn about Delhivery’s Startup story, Founders, Business Model, how it started, Growth, Competitors, Funding, and Investors.
Delhivery Company Details
Startup Name
Delhivery
Headquarters
Gurgaon, India
Sector
Logistics
Founders
Kapil Bharati, Sahil Barua, Suraj Saharan, Mohit Tandon (Exited March 29, 2021), and Bhavesh Manglani (Exited March 29, 2021)
Delhivery is a prominent courier services, logistics, and supply chain solutions company that enthusiastically works with individuals and businesses. Founded back in May 2011, Delhivery is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, India,and provides a range of services, including last-mile delivery, third-party and transit warehousing, reverse logistics, payment collection, vendor-to-warehouse, vendor-to-customer shipping, and more.
The company is backed by Times Internet Ltd, which acquired a minority stake in the firm in June last year.
Having three responsibilities on its shoulders – fulfillment, omnichannel, and data services, the company’s focus is to deliver the best service without any waste of chances in solving the customers’ problems.
It provides the products and services intended to build trust and improve the lives of consumers, small businesses, enterprises, and their growing teams of employees and partners. Delhivery is disrupting India’s logistics industry with the help of its proprietary network design, infrastructure, partnerships, engineering, and technological capabilities.
Delhivery brings unparalleled cost efficiency and pan-India reach to its 10,000+ customers. Driven by its mission to shrink time and distance, Delhivery aims to make the world a smaller place for its customers. Powered by an effective and streamlined Delhivery business plan, the company is emerging as one of the leading players in the supply chain and logistics space, so much so that it can be referred to as one of such courier and logistics startups that have paved a new path for the delivery of products. Besides, Delhiveryis driven by a constant focus on its customers and serving them with quality products, thereby building confidence and trust for the brand.
Delhivery – Industry
The country’s logistics industry, which is worth around $160 billion is likely to grow by an expected CAGR of 10% and touch $215 billion in the next two years with the implementation of GST. However, most of the industry was largely torn into unorganized players where the arrival of Delhivery can be simply termed as a phenomenon that has completely changed the industry and the way it works.
Here comes the biggest reach of Delhivery where they have over 1400 serviceable pin codes on their list and 19,990+ sq ft of warehouse space in Delhi as well as in Bangalore. Delhivery has a lot of partners with whom it aims to increase the product reach and to cope with those partners, the company also offers third-party warehousing and transit warehousing.
Along with numerous e-commerce brands like Flipkart, Amazon, eBay, Snapdeal, Jabong, and Healthkart, customers, Delhivery company also manages its customer base that comprises many other businesses and individuals.
Delhivery – Founders and Team
Delhivery was started by a bunch of engineers – Bhavesh Manglani, Kapil Bharati, Mohit Tandon, Sahil Barua, and Suraj Saharan.
Delhivery Founders
Sahil Barua
Another Bain & Company consultant Sahil Barua was a BE Mechanical Engineering student at NIT Karnataka. Sahil Barua, who currently serves as the Co-founder and CEO of Delhivery, completed his graduation and then went on to pursue a PGDM course at IIM Bangalore. Sahil finally decided to co-found Delhivery together with the other founders.
Kapil Bharati
Kapil Bharati is the Co-founder and CTO at Delhivery. He is an alumnus of IIT Delhi, from where he completed his Btech degree in Mechanical Engineering. Bharati served as the Technical Lead at Hindustan Times for livemint.com and the HT blogs and then joined SapientNitro as a Senior Manager of technology. Bharati had earlier co-founded two other companies – 11Rupees and Contify.com, before co-founding Delhivery.
Bhavesh Manglani
Bhavesh Manglani was another Co-founder of Delhivery, who left the company on March 29, 2021. Manglani was a PGDCM/MBA, Systems, Finance student at IIM Calcutta, which he completed after obtaining his BTech in Information and Communication Technology. Bhavesh has had earlier experience working as a Manager – Usage and Revenue Enhancement, Prepaid Mobile, All India, and as a Product Manager at Reliance Communications and Idea Cellular Ltd. before he co-founded Delhivery.
Mohit Tandon
Mohit Tandon is an IIT Kanpur alumnus and eventually joined Bain & Company after completing his graduation, where he served as a Consultant for around 5 years before co-founding Delhivery. Tandon had been a Co-founder of Delhivery, before he left the company on March 29, 2021.
Suraj Saharan
Suraj Saharan was also an ex-Bain & Company consultant, who started with ICICI Lombard as a Customer Service Manager and eventually co-founded Delhivery. Saharan is an IIT Bombay alumnus, from where he obtained a BTech degree in Mechanical Engineering. Saharan is also a co-founder of the company.
To increase the quality of the products delivered by Delhivery, Suvayu Ali (Data Scientist at Delhivery) kept a special check on the market of these technical matters with an algorithm, which is one of the projects that a team of data scientists at Delhivery, led by former entrepreneur and Facebook’s data scientist Santanu Bhattacharya, is working on.
Delhivery added Namita Thapar (ED, Emcure Pharmaceuticals) and Sameer Mehta (CEO, boAt) to its board. The company said that the appointment of the two will come into effect from February 17, 2025. The company also appointed ex-Airtel Global CEO Vani Venkatesh as CBO, effective February 28, 2025.
Delhivery currently boasts of a team that is 66000+ employees strong.
Delhivery – Startup Story
It was approximately half-past eleven at night when Suraj and Sahil ordered food from a nearby restaurant in Gurgaon. When they had the delivery man standing in front of their door, they got chatty with the delivery person, who spoke of the problem of unemployment that was about to break out. This made the founders rush down to the store and talk to the manager. Soon they were at the restaurant, talking to the owner, who further elaborated on his plans of closing down the business and moving his staff elsewhere. Here’s where Sahil and Suraj decided to start their delivery business, Delhivery. Yes, they hired all of them!
Sahil narrated the exact conversation between him and the owner of the restaurant – “It was 11.30 at night, I still remember, we took our bikes and went to meet the owner, Anuj Bajaj, who was surprisingly still there. He said he was shutting the restaurant down. He was really happy we had come because he wanted his staff to relocate somewhere. We said bring it on, we’ll hire everybody.”
Delhivery – Name, Tagline, and Logo
Delhivery – Logo
Delhivery has stuck with a simple but eye-catching logo where the name of the brand is displayed in black.
Delhivery tagline – ‘Small World‘, Delhivery is changing the logistics market making the world smaller with its new strategy of delivering fast.
Delhivery – Mission and Vision
Delhivery’s mission is to simplify the movement of goods. It aims to change the world, one shipment at a time.
The vision of the company is to “become the operating system for commerce in India, through a combination of world-class infrastructure, logistics operations of the highest quality and cutting-edge engineering and technology capabilities.”
Delhivery – Business Model and Revenue Model
Delhivery has currently been hailed as India’s leading supply chain services company. It is one of India’s largest B2B, B2C, and C2C Logistics Courier Service providers. The company is best known for the economical shipping rates that it charges for its services. Furthermore, Delhivery company claims to have – No Setup Fees or Subscription Charges!
The services offered by Delhivery can be divided into 3 primary departments:
Warehousing – Flexible warehousing across 40+ cities in India
Transportation – Largest pan-India reach across 19000+ pin codes and 2500+ cities
Ecommerce – Ready integration with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento & Opencart.
Delhivery – Growth and Revenue
Founded in Gurgaon, Delhivery was initially a small business with only 5 members in total for all their work, from accounts to product service to delivery hookups. However, within a short period, the company hired more than 15,000 people across a range of departments including deliverymen, account keepers, and many others, some of whom were solely dedicated to looking after customer satisfaction and managing deliveries along with providing extensive help and support with the customer issues.
Delhivery Growth Statistics
The growth of Delhivery has been documented until the year 2024 are as follows:
Since its inception, the company has successfully shipped a remarkable 2.8 billion parcels as of September 2024.
A total of more than 18,700 pin codes are served.
It has covered 18 million+ square feet of logistics.
A total of over 26,500 businesses have been served.
The company boasts of a collection of 85+ packing warehouses in total across the country
It has around 29 automated sort centres
Delhivery has around 160 hubs
7,500+ partner centres
Furthermore, Delhivery claims to possess a capacity to process more than 15 lakh (around 1.5 million) parcels per day in India across 2,300 towns and cities.
All of these are possible mainly because of its network of nearly 7,000 drivers and over 5,000 trucks. Delhivery is also building some of the country’s largest trucking terminals at key locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chennai.
The company culture aims at making every individual experience working in the trenches as a delivery boy, for at least twelve hours a week, to promote teamwork and efficiency among the employees.
In an interview, Sahil Barua quoted some wonderful lines for his employees “After every 20 minutes I get up and go talk to a team member. Thanks to this, I know everyone in our office by their first name. We have that kind of openness in the office where people can tell us what they think. That is what keeps us going”.
The Rise and Fall of the Delhivery Shares
Delhivery shares rose by 6.34% on June 2, 2022, which closed at INR 570. It reached INR 617.70 during this season, which was an all-time high intraday. This was reset again when Delhivery shares reached INR 683.35 on July 20, 2022. Among the new-age tech stocks, it was only Nykaa‘s shares, which rose by 1.05% to INR 1470.95. All the other stocks of Policy Bazaar, PB Fintech, Paytm, and Zomato fell recently, as reported on June 3, 2022. Delhivery shares continued to hold its winning streak for the third season straight. The shares of Delhivery ended 6% and 4% higher on consecutive days to end at INR 699.95 on the BSE as per July 21, 2022 reports. With this, the market capitalization of Delhivery crossed the INR 50,000 crore mark, which helped Delhivery be clubbed together in the house of the top 100 Indian companies with the highest market capitalization.
Delhivery has launched something big called ‘Company One.’ It’s a super modern digital shipping platform made to help small businesses. This cool invention puts together lots of shipping services. It’s not just about talking to customers after they buy things and using smart data, but also about easily sending things to other countries, quickly connecting to different places where they sell stuff, and handling reports about things that couldn’t be delivered. All of this brings a totally new and really smart way of shipping and delivering things for these small businesses.
This new system will enable small businesses to ship their products without needing to meet a minimum order requirement. They can start shipping by adding a minimum of INR 500 to their wallet. With Delhivery One, small businesses can now ship their products to more than 220 countries. This is made possible through Delhivery’s partnership with FedEx, a well-known logistics company. Delhivery is also working on making the digital platform even better. They are planning to add new features like connecting to various online marketplaces and creating a mobile app called “Delhivery One“,
Delhivery – Financials
Delhivery has shown consistent growth in revenue over the past few years. However, the company has faced losses during this period, with expenses rising and net losses narrowing down in the most recent financial year (FY24).
Delhivery Financials
FY24
FY23
FY22
FY21
FY20
Total Revenue
INR 8594.2crore
INR 7530.2 crore
INR 7038.4 crore
INR 3838.3 crore
INR 2988.6 crore
Total Expenses
INR 8825 crore
INR 8597 crore
INR 8064.5 crore
INR 4212.7 crore
INR 3257.4 crore
Profit/Loss
INR -249.2 crore
INR -1007.8 crore
INR -1011 crore
INR -415.7 crore
INR -268.9 crore
Delhivery Financials 2024
Delhivery’s revenue has steadily increased from INR 2,988.6 crore in FY20 to INR 8,594.2 crore in FY24. Despite revenue growth, the company continues to incur losses, though the losses narrowed from INR 1,011 crore in FY22 to INR 249.2 crore in FY24.
Delhivery Revenue Breakdown
Particulars
FY24
FY23
Revenue from Product/Service Sales
INR 8,141.5 crore
INR 7,225.3 crore
Other Income
INR 452.7 crore
INR 304.9 crore
Revenue from product/service sales in FY24 showed a significant rise, reaching INR 8,141.5 crore compared to INR 7,225.3 crore in FY23. Other income also increased, moving from INR 304.9 crore in FY23 to INR 452.7 crore in FY24.
Delhivery Expense Breakdown
Particulars
FY24
FY23
Freight, Handling & Servicing Costs
INR 5,970.7 crore
INR 5,669.5 crore
Employee Benefits Expense
INR 1,436.8 crore
INR 1,400 crore
Finance Costs
INR 88.5 crore
INR 88.8 crore
Amortization & Depreciation
INR 721.5 crore
INR 831.1 crore
Other Expenses
INR 607.4 crore
INR 605.8 crore
Delhivery’s expenses have been fairly stable from FY23 to FY24, with freight and handling costs rising slightly from INR 5,669.5 Cr to INR 5,970.7 Cr. Amortization & depreciation costs decreased from INR 831.1 Cr to INR 721.5 Cr, contributing to some cost control.
Delhivery Profit/Loss
Particulars
FY24
FY23
Gross Profit
– INR 249.2 crore
– INR 1,007.8 crore
Operating Profit
– INR 244.4 crore
– INR 1,053.1 crore
Net Profit/(Loss)
– INR 249.2 crore
– INR 1,007.8 crore
Despite revenue growth, Delhivery has yet to achieve profitability. The company’s losses decreased from INR 1,007.8 crore in FY23 to INR 249.2 crore in FY24, reflecting improvements in cost management and revenue generation.
Quick Summary
Revenue Growth: Increased from INR 2,988.6 Cr (FY20) to INR 8,594.2 Cr (FY24), driven by a rise in service sales.
Loss Reduction: Losses narrowed from INR 1,011 Cr in FY22 to INR 249.2 Cr in FY24.
Stable Expenses: Slight rise in freight and handling costs with a decrease in amortization and depreciation.
Profitability still a Challenge: Despite improvements, the company remains in the red for the past five years.
Delhivery – Funding and Investors
Delhivery has raised a total of $1.69B in funding over 15 rounds. The company raised a funding round worth $303.73 million (INR 2347 crore) led by 64 anchor investors including Stead View, Tiger Global, Bay Capital, and more, before its IPO on May 11, 2022. As per the company filings, Delhivery allotted 48 million shares to the anchor investors at INR 487 each.
The previous round of the company came in on September 24, 2021, led by Addition. This has helped it raise around $125 million. The company also witnessed funds equal to INR 558 crore ($76.34 million) in the previous round dated September 6, 2021. The Series I round of funding was also led by Lee Fixel’s Addition LLC. Delhivery is currently valued at $4.77 billion, as of May 2022.
Here is a list of all the funding rounds of Delhivery:
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
May 11,2022
Pre-IPO
$303.73 million
Tiger Global Bay
September 24,2021
–
$125 million
Lee Fixel’s Addition LLC
September 6,2021
Series I
$76.34 million
Lee Fixel’s Addition LLC
July 16, 2021
–
$100 million
FedEx Express
May 30, 2021
Series H
$277 million
Fidelity Investments
December 15, 2020
Secondary Market
$25 million
Steadview capital
September 9,2019
Secondary Market
$115 million
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
June 17, 2019
Secondary Market
$150 million
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
March 24, 2019
Series F
$413 million
SoftBank Vision Fund, Carlyle Group
May 22, 2017
Series E
$30 million
Fosun International
March 23, 2017
Series E
$100 million
Carlyle Group, Tiger Global
May 6, 2015
Series D
$85 million
Tiger Global Management
September 8, 2014
Series C
$35 million
Multiple Alternate Asset Management
September 30, 2013
Series B
$5 million
Nexus Venture Partners
April 2012
Series A
$1.5 million
Times Internet Limited
The logistics giant has allotted 146,961 Series I Compulsory Convertible Preference shares (CCPS) to Addition LLC valued at Rs 37, 900 per share, according to the MCA filings of the brand as of September 6, 2021.
Delhivery – Shareholding
Delhivery’s shareholding pattern as of April 2022, sourced from Tracxn:
Delhivery Shareholders
Percentage
Sahil Barua
1.9%
Mohit Tandon
1.6%
Suraj Saharan
1.6%
Kapil Bharati
1.0%
Bhavesh Manglani
0.3%
SoftBank
19.6%
The Carlyle Group
9.1%
Nexus Venture Partners
9.2%
CPP Investments
6.1%
Tiger Global Management
5.3%
Brand Capital
5.6%
Fosun
3.1%
Alpine Capital
3.4%
GIC
2.1%
Addition
2.4%
Steadview
2.7%
Chimera
1.4%
Fidelity Investments
3.5%
Baillie Gifford
0.7%
Ab Initio Capital
0.3%
RPS Ventures
0.5%
Avendus
< 0.1%
Malabar Investments
< 0.1%
Multiples Alternate Asset Management
–
FedEx
2.9%
Angel
< 0.1%
Other People
1.4%
ESOP Pool
11.0%
Other Investors
3.2%
Total
100.0%
Delhivery Shareholding
Delhivery – IPO
Delhivery eyed an IPO round of around $1 billion and filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus on October 7, 2021. The company had already received approval from its shareholders to turn into a public entity by then, and soon afterward, it was converted from Delhivery Private Limited to Delhivery Limited. Delhivery, which earlier anticipated raising a total of INR 7460 crore in its IPO, had reduced its IPO size to INR 5500 crore, which was 26.27% less than what the company proposed earlier. On a sitting with the Board of Delhivery, the company decided to open its IPO after the closure of the LIC IPO, the subscription window of which is closing on May 9th, 2022. The valuation that Delhivery targeted with its IPO was mentioned somewhere around $5 billion as per the reports dated May 5, 2022.
Delhivery opened its IPO on May 11th, 2022, which opened to a customary start where the total subscriptions hovered at 4%. While the retail subscription was subscribed to 23%, the employee share quota was at 4% subscriptions after 2 hours of the Delhivery listing. What can be called a lukewarm start, the Delhivery IPO seemed to lack market liquidity, coming just after LIC’s mega IPO round, which closed on May 9, 2022. Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, BofA Securities, and Kotak Mahindra Capital were some of the book-running lead managers to the Delhivery IPO. Delhivery witnessed a tepid response on its first day of IPO with 21% overall subscriptions. At the close of the day, the retail portion was subscribed 30% while the portion of the Qualified Institutional Investors (QII) followed in with around 29% subscriptions. The employee’s quota of Delhivery was subscribed to around 6% while that of the Non-Institutional Buyers (NIB) remained subscribed at 1% only.
The Delhivery shares were listed at INR 493 per share, which was 1.2% higher than their issue price, INR 487, on the BSE, whereas on the NSE, the Delhivery shares were listed at 1.7% higher than the issue price, at INR 495.2. However, the shares continued gaining on a listing day to stand at INR 537.25, which is 9% higher at the closing on the BSE, and stood 10.1% higher at INR 536.25 on the NSE. The Delhivery stocks were listed on May 24, 2022, on the BSE and NSE, and the very next, it was found that the shares by 4.73% to INR 511 on the NSE. The valuation of Delhivery, which was previously valued at INR 35,283 crore ($4.55 billion) before its IPO, stood at INR 37,022 crore ($4.77 billion) at the end of the listing day.
With the listing of its shares on May 24, 2022, Delhivery turned out as the first tech startup to go public in the season where negative sentiment was dominating the public listing. However, the Delhivery IPO turned out to be a money-making event for its big investors. Softbank, which entered the cap table of Delhivery in 2019, had 14,15,93,300 shares, out of which the Japanese company sold 7,494,867 equity shares or 5% stakes and received over 148% ROI. On the other hand, Times Internet, which was one of the early backers of the company, held 4.92% stakes in the firm and sold shares worth $21 million in the Delhivery IPO, thereby gaining 139X returns.
Delhivery – ESOPs
The company initially decided to expand its employee stock option plans (ESOP) pool that will be overlooking its $1 Bn-IPO, when it allotted 11,614 shares valued at $126.6K to its employees in 2019. The IPO value was later reduced to ($677.81 mn) Rs 5235 crore. It then allotted 9,545 shares (Rs 2,895 each) valued at Rs 2.84 cr to 12 of its employees. This was decided via an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on September 29, 2021.
Delhivery announced the allotment of ESOPs worth Rs 43.6 crore to around 66 employees as soon as it filed its DRHP for its first IPO, as per November 2021 reports. According to the company filings, Delhivery declared the allotment of 12,17,500 equity shares to over more than 5 dozen employees on the exercise of their stock options.
Delhivery presented 9 items that included ESOP 2012, Delhivery ESOP II 2020, Delhivery ESOP III 2020, Delhivery ESOP IV 2021, Article of Associations, and other allied schemes for voting in front of its stakeholders. Interestingly, the institutional shareholders (72% of them) have largely voted against these ESOP schemes, as per reports dated July 18, 2022. However, the ESOP schemes were still passed with the votes of the non-public institutions and promoters in the company meeting. The presentation of the ESOP schemes of Delhivery was in line with the SEBI policy, which does not allow listed companies to make any fresh grant related to the transferring of shares to their employees if the Pre-IPO ESOP schemes are not approved by the shareholders.
Delhivery – Partnerships
Delhivery partnered with many organizations thus far. Among its prominent partnerships include its collaboration with Volvo in August 2020 with an aim to add tractor-trailers into its express network.
“This is the first major deployment of tractor-trailers in express trucking which is a significant step for Delhivery towards getting ready for the future and towards expanding our network and building our leadership position in this market further,” said Sahil Barua, Co-Founder of Delhivery.
The company has also partnered with FedEx Express for a strategic alliance transaction, which was earlier signed in July and completed on December 9, 2021. This transaction is deemed to combine the extensive pan-India network and technology solutions of Delhivery with the global network that FedEx boasts of. This will help the customers get the best of both worlds together.
Delhivery – Competitors
As Delhivery is a logistics company, and obviously, Delhivery thrives amidst huge market competition from some of the companies like:
It is because of the competition in the market that customers get different choices, and all of them more or less closely match each other when it comes to quality.
The company has acquired 3 startups as of December 8, 2021. The latest acquisition came in on December 8, 2021, when Delhivery acquired Transition Robotics, a California-based startup that is currently focussing on the development of the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) platforms, founded by Jeff Gibboney in 2011. This will allow the supply chain services unicorn to be directly involved with the core drone technology, the “regulations and use cases” of which, “are evolving in the country”, CTO Kapil Bharati said.
Acquiree Name
Date
Price
Transition Robotics
December 8, 2021
–
Spoton Logistics
Aug 1, 2021
$200 mn
Primaseller
Mar 3, 2021
–
Delhivery, which is eyeing the filing of its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP), has already issued bonus shares to shareholders. The logistics and supply chain startup held an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on September 29, where it announced that it would allot fully paid-up 1.68 Cr bonus shares worth INR 10, to equity shareholders. This will be in the ratio of 9:1.
The logistics unicorn has allotted 1,68,46,803 shares of Rs 10 each, which increased the total number of shares from 18,71,868 to 1,87,18,670 bonus shares. These shares would be allotted to 90 existing equity shareholders of the company, as per the reports dated October 4, 2021.
The company has allotted 12.29 Lakh bonus shares, where the Founder of the company, Sahil Barua boasts of having the highest shares when it comes to the founders of the startup. Times Internet and CPPIB are the other prominent shareholders, which were allotted 28.53 Lakh and 23.80 Lakh shares respectively, which are the highest that the investors of the company got.
Delhivery – Future Plans
Delhivery will continue to aggressively invest in building trucking infrastructure and is planning to invest up to Rs 300 crore in the next 24 months to expand its fleet size. The company announced it has set up a fully owned subsidiary, Delhivery Robotics Pvt Ltd, to focus on drone technology research and manufacturing.
The Chief Operating Officer of Delhivery, Ajith Pai explained Delhivery’s global strategy, highlighting its focus on connecting India with the world rather than building a physical network abroad. He emphasized that the company prioritizes smooth access into and out of India over setting up operations overseas.
FAQs
Who are Delhivery Founders/Owners?
Delhivery was founded by Bhavesh Manglani, Kapil Bharati, Mohit Tandon, Sahil Barua, and Suraj Saharan.
Which is Delhivery Parent Company?
Delhivery Pvt Ltd. is the company that owns Delhivery.
What is Delhivery courier service?
Delhivery offers a full suite of services such as last-mile delivery, third-party and transit warehousing, reverse logistics, payment collection, vendor-to-warehouse, vendor-to-customer shipping, and more.
Who is the CEO of Delhivery?
Sahil Barua is the Founder and CEO of Delhivery.
How does Delhivery delivery tracking work?
Delivery tracking uses a unique tracking number to monitor a package’s journey from dispatch to delivery. Customers can check its status and location in real-time via the courier’s website or app.
Who are the Top Competitors of Delhivery?
As Delhivery is a logistics company, it is obvious that it has great competition in the market. Some of the very state rivals are:
Ecom Express
DotZot
FSC (Future Supply Chain)
BlackBuck
Delex
Delivery.com
How can you use Delhivery tracking?
You can easily use the Delhivery tracking facility by simply visiting the Delhivery homepage and the “Track your order” section, where you need to type Mobile Number/Tracking ID/Order No./Reference No./LTI Shipment (LRN No.) to get your order tracked effectively.
What are Delhivery courier service charges?
The Delhivery courier service charges are based on the weight of the order or parcel.
What is Delhivery Business Model?
Delhivery is a logistics company providing parcel delivery, warehousing, and supply chain services. It focuses on e-commerce, offering tech-driven solutions to manage shipping and fulfillment. Revenue comes from service charges and additional offerings like warehousing.
Where is hq of Delhivery?
The headquarters of Delhivery are located in Gurugram.
Is Delhivery a unicorn?
Yes, Delhivery is a Unicorn.
Who owns Delhivery?
Funds own the majority of Delhivery, a logistics company, with 74.98% of the shares.
What is Delhivery Net Worth?
Delhivery’s latest financial report shows it has net assets worth INR 92.50 billion.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by DTDC.
It feels amazing when you have your desired goods right at your doorstep. Due to the growth of privatization, we have many good courier service providers. A courier service differs from normal mail delivery services on the basis that it provides features such as security, tracking, and proof of delivery.
Today, courier services have become a crucial part of the services sector. A lot of businesses rely heavily on courier services across the world.
One of the most popular courier services in India is DTDC. Desk to Desk Courier & Cargo, commonly known as DTDC was founded in 1990 by Subhasish Chakraborty and has headquarters in Bangalore.
Read the article to get an understanding of DTDC’s success story.
DTDC, founded in 1990 and headquartered in Bengaluru, employs a field workforce of over 40,000 people across India through four zonal offices, 20 strategically situated regional offices, and over 570 operating sites.
DTDC Express Limited is India’s major provider of express package services. Through its strategic partnership with Europe’s DPD group, which is backed by Le Groupe La Poste – the French Postal organization, DTDC’s global network and reach offers end-to-end solutions for parcels with diversified offerings such as Express Domestic, International, Supply Chain Solutions, 3PL, Warehousing, E-commerce, E-Fulfilment, and Cross Border. Through its wide network of more than 11,000+ franchisees, DTDC Express Limited has a presence in more than 500 district headquarters and offers services to over 11,400+ Pin codes while handling more than 12.5 million packages every month.
DTDC is a strategic partner of the Dpd group (an international parcel delivery service provider).
It also has its own operations, joint ventures, and commercial associates, through which it occupies a large presence in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, China, Singapore, and other Asian nations.
DTDC – Industry Details
We are aware of the fact that the courier and freight industry is one of the booming industries today. As per reports, the global courier, express, and parcel (CEP) market is anticipated at a CAGR of 10% growth by 2027. This industry is witnessing major growth due to new and emerging players in the market.
DTDC – Founder and Team
DTDC is founded by Subhasish Chakraborty in 1990.
Subhasish Chakraborty
Subhasish Chakraborty
Subhasish Chakraborty was born into a middle-class family. He graduated from the University of Calcutta. During his graduation, Subhasish worked at Peerless Insurance. After working for almost six years at the insurance company, Subhashish decided to start his own business. That’s how DTDC was born. Subhashish became the first Indian to take over the UAE-based courier firm Eurostar Express in 2012. Presently, he is the Chairman and Managing Director of DTDC. He has been awarded the Inc. India’s Top 30 Innovative CEOs for the second consecutive time in January 2015. Besides this, Subhasish Chakraborty has also been commemorated as the Most Admired Leader at The Asian Brand Conclave for 2014-15.
Abhishek Chakraborty
Abhishek Chakraborty is the Executive Director of DTDC Express Limited. He got his bachelor’s degree in Engineering in Electronics & Communication from Visvesvaraya Technological University. In addition, Abhishek obtained his Master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Management. Before joining DTDC, Abhishek worked at Accenture as a Consultant. Abhishek Chakraborty has received ‘100 Emerging Voices of India – 2019’ issued by Yourstory. He has also achieved the
Young Business Leader of the Year award, which was issued by Zee Business in association with SAP India in October 2019.
DTDC – Startup Story
The idea of DTDC came into being when founder Subhasish Chakraborty realized during his tenure at the insurance company that there was a big gap between what postal services offered and what customers needed. This pushed him to start a courier service that would be customer-centric.
Initially, it was incorporated as a private company but later in 1994, it was converted into a Public Limited Company. In the 2000s, DTDC started its international expansion in the US, UK, and Dubai.
DTDC introduced Premium Express Products (PEP) portfolio in 2008.
After 32 years and over 10,000 sites worldwide, DTDC Express Limited has evolved from a local courier service to an international logistics organization.
In 2015, DTDC was rebranded to DTDC Express Limited. It also opened new up its first-ever automated hub facility in Hyderabad, followed by Delhi.
DTDC – Mission and Vision
The mission statement of DTDC is, “To be the Most Preferred Express Parcel Service Provider with a Special Consumer (2C) Focus.”
DTDC – Name, Tagline, Logo
DTDC goes around with its tagline, “Delivering Value”
DTDC was initially known as DTDC Courier & Cargo Limited. The name was changed to DTDC Express Limited in 2015.
DTDC – Business & Revenue Model
DTDC’s business model can be said to have a franchise-based business model. Its business is mostly about express package services across national and international borders. DTDC’s franchise-based business model system is to boost its partners with the requirements of capital, access to technology, strategy knowledge, and equipment.
The main source of revenue earned by DTDC is through the following services;
Cross Border Management
Cross Border management is not just limited to offering services across the globe but it is about using expert e-commerce research to connect all of the dots and link all of the supply chain elements at competitive costs. The company has a tailored set of logistical solutions that guarantee to take up its client business to new heights.
Integrated Technology Platform
DTDC offers single-window frameworks to all e-commerce websites for hosting customers’ products. Its excellent back-end software support enables effective inventory management, channel management, order management, vendor status updates, account reconciliation, and other services. The bespoke IT platform guarantees its clients’ connections are simple and painless, without sacrificing openness.
Multi-Vendor Management
For companies to manage e-tail distribution with several vendors might be one of the most difficult challenges in running a successful business. To make this process go as smoothly as possible, DTDC offers fulfillment centers and technology platforms that are interconnected with all of the key network partners. In this manner, there would be no gaps in reaching out to worldwide customers. It delivers to customers located anywhere in the world.
Warehousing and E-fulfilment services
DTDC along with parcel delivery services also offers warehousing and fulfillment services. Its fulfillment warehouses are designed to make order fulfillment operations run smoothly, from reception through product delivery. Its best-in-class warehouse management solutions are designed to ship thousands of orders of any size quickly and effectively.
Last Mile Delivery
DTDC is proud to hold India’s largest delivery network and is internationally recognized for providing best-in-class international package services. The technical basis of DTDC has been created to support smooth delivery and return handling. It has Cash On Delivery (COD) service, Next-day delivery, Managed Drop Ship, 3PL Management, and Reverse Logistics.
DTDC – Funds and Investments
Reliance ADAG has made investments in DTDC through a private equity round. The details of the amount have not been disclosed.
DTDC – Mergers, and Acquisition
DTDC acquired a Bangalore-based freight forwarding company Nikkos Logistics Pvt Ltd to enhance its freight presence globally – in 2013
DTDC acquired a majority stake in Eurostar Express of UAE – the first international acquisition by an Indian express company – in 2012
DTDC – Investments
On April 6, 2016, DTDC invested in Shipsy. A Gurgaon-based company, Shipsy’s platform offers data-driven decision-making for the Supply Chain sector, increasing visibility, and operational efficiency.
The investment by DTDC was through Seed Round at $1 million.
DTDC – Advertisements and Social Media Campaigns
In 2017, DTDC ran a campaign featuring former cricket captain ‘Sourav Ganguly’. The ad titled ‘Going Beyond the Parcels’ shows Sourav Ganguly giving a monologue about the different services and features of DTDC. The ad also shows how DTDC helps so many customers in the quest of sending and receiving goods to their desired destination.
DTDC – Awards and Achievements
Below is the list of awards and recognition achieved by DTDC:
DTDC has been recognized as the ‘BEST COMPANY TO WORK FOR’ – 2018 by Business Today
DTDC Express Limited was awarded National Award for Exemplary Position under the Express/Courier category at CII Scale Awards 2016.
DTDC Express Ltd has been recognized as one of Bengaluru’s ‘Hot 50 Brands’ in the 3rd edition of Bengaluru Brand Summit & Hot Brands, 2018
DTDC has been awarded the Best Franchisor Award for the 10th time in a row by Franchisee India.
DTDC’s Brand Campaign TVC “Going Beyond the Parcel” has been awarded the Best Corporate Film under the category “Best Corporate Film encompassing Vision, History, Values & Spirit of Excellence” presented by the International Management Film Festival and Times Ascent.
DTDC has been awarded the prestigious Most Admired Brand Award in Asia at The Asian Brand Conclave for 2014-15
DTDC is currently planning to go for IPO to raise an estimated sum of Rs 1000 crores. It is further planning to scale up its infrastructure to meet the rising demands of companies, especially in the healthcare sector. Here’s what Subhasish Chakraborty, MD, and Chairman of DTDC say about their plans, “To further enhance our services and streamline the operation to serve our customers better, we are building major logistic hubs across the country and expansion for greater business growth and delivering value to customers across length and breadth of the country”.
FAQs
Who is the CEO of DTDC?
Mr. Subhashish Chakraborty is the CEO of DTDC.
What is the full form of DTDC?
The full form of DTDC is, ‘Desk To Desk Courier & Cargo’
Is DTDC an Indian Company?
Yes, DTDC is an Indian company.
Where is the headquarter of DTDC?
The headquarter of DTDC is in Bangalore, Karnataka.
FedEx Corporation previously called Federal Express Corporation or FDX corporation is an America-based multinational company mainly focusing on transportation and e-commerce services. It was founded in the year 1971 by Frederick W. Smith.
FedEx Express provides transcontinental and international express services to hundreds of locations and markets across Europe, the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent, and Africa (EMEA). FedEx Express EMEA is headquartered in Paris-Charles de Gaulle and is gradually expanding its network across the region through smart, strategic investments.
FedEx has the service you require, whether it’s express or less urgent, little shipments or heavyweight, import or export. FedEx Express created express delivery and continues to be the industry leader, providing fast, dependable, and time-definite delivery to more than 220 countries and territories.
The Memphis-based firm was supposed to announce its fourth-quarter earnings on June 23. However, due to “shelter in place” rules for the coronavirus pandemic, the corporation postponed the publication until after the market closure on June 30. Due to the pandemic, FedEx has implemented many measures, including a cost for large shippers and a daily limit on how much specific shops can deliver. FedEx similarly lowered its economic outlook in March due to the coronavirus pandemic’s uncertainty.
FedEx is a well-known courier company having its roots fixed to more than one service. There are many interesting facts revolving around FedEx all belonging to a different origin. Some of them have been shared below.
1. FedEx Was Not Started as a Specified Courier Service
FedEx did not start out as a courier service as it does now. FedEx was founded on the idea of picking up cheques from the 12 Federal Reserve banks in the United States, flying them to a central hub, and then delivering the cheques to the federal reserve member banks the next day, according to creator Fred Smith’s business plan from 1971.
He pitched the proposal to the Federal Reserve, which was enthusiastically received. Smith used his personal resources and a loan from his family trust fund to purchase two Dassault Falcon jets from Pan-Am. The federal reserve board later reversed its decision, leaving the company with no clients, two Falcons, and $3.6 million in debt.
2. FedEx Earned Its Investment by Gambling
FedEx was on the edge of bankruptcy in 1974, just three years after it was founded. Fred Smith was unable to raise funds, obtain loans, or attract investors because the company was losing $1 million each month. Only $5,000 remained in the company accounts at the conclusion of the working week, on Friday, which was insufficient for the company to continue operating.
Smith made the decision to take severe measures. He travelled to Las Vegas from the business’s headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas, and spent the weekend gambling with company monies.
On Monday, Smith went to the company’s Little Rock headquarters and informed surprised bosses that he had turned the $5,000 into $27,000. FedEx received $11 million in the capital soon after, and two years later, in 1976, it made its first-ever profit of $3.6 million.
3. The Secretive Logo Design
The black arrow in the image stands for the indication of deliveries made by FedEx from point A to point B
Examine the letters E and X closely. In the white space between the two characters, there should be an arrow. The arrow is meant to send a concealed message about FedEx. The arrow defines the work of FedEx, which is to deliver from point A to Point B.
Another shocking fact is that the arrow was not designed purposely. Instead, it was found accidentally in the year 1994, while designing 400 different logos for the corporation.
Tracking numbers now forms the basic part of each courier company. However, FedEx is debatingly acknowledged as the inventor of tracking numbers. It is estimated that FedEx invented the tracking number in the late 1970s. Tracking numbers were invented as the set of numbers that represent a package’s trip and were meant for FedEx’s internal quality control system.
As a matter of fact, FedEx issues more than a million tracking numbers daily and receives around 125 million tracking inquiries every day.
5. FedEx Stands for More Than Shipping and Courier Service
Undoubtedly, FedEx is highly acknowledged for its courier shipping facility. However, it is not restricted to the shipping service only. It also provides multiple e-commerce services and custom brokerage services under the Logistic brand of FedEx. FedEx is also known to have its role in electronic repairs and 3D printing.
6. The Movie “Cast Away” Is Inspired by FedEx Principles
FedEx is truly appreciated for its on-time deliveries. The concept of the movie “Cast Away” is highly inspired by FedEx and created a great marketing strategy for FedEx with zero fees.
The main character of the movie Chuck Noland is shown as the system analyst of FedEx who gets stranded on an island after a plane crash due to a storm. He managed to survive four years on the island and successfully makes an exit from the island with one unopened and un-delivered courier in his hand.
FedEx in Chuck Noland
After the exit, Chunk finally delivers the unopened letter successfully to the given address and showcases the late but successful delivery of the firm FedEx.
7. FedEx Owns 697 Aircraft for Smooth Work
FedEx Aircraft
In the year 1973, FedEx first delivered with the help of aircraft. On 17th April, 14 small aircraft flew from Memphis and delivered to 25 different US cities. From there on, FedEx is known to deliver with the help of aircraft whenever required.
As a matter of fact, FedEx serves 220 countries across the globe and has 697 aircraft with more than 650 airports served.
8. FedEx Does Not Ship Everything
Irrespective of the belief that FedEx can transport anything through its courier service. It is not the truth. FedEx also has its own terms and condition which does not allow the shipping service for a few products.
Any kind of animal is not transported by FedEx. Some exceptions can be made to this for specific fishes and reptiles. FedEx also does not support shipping illegal things through its service.
As a matter of fact, FedEx handles over 19 million packages every day but with its restriction still in terms.
Conclusion
FedEx Express is the world’s largest express transportation provider, providing fast and reliable services for more than 3.6 million items each business day, thanks to unmatched air route authorities and transportation infrastructure, and cutting-edge information technologies. Just like other corporations, FedEx corporation also has its share of fun facts. Some of them are shared in the above context.
FAQs
What makes FedEx unique?
FedEx was not the first shipping company to be developed. However, with the time FedEx made its place on the market and created its own name for its timely and reliable services. The service given by FedEx is still up to the mark, and that is what made FedEx unique from others.
What does FedEx mean?
FedEx stands for the term Federal Express. After the introduction of the FedEx logo in 1994, the term Federal Express was then replaced with FedEx after a brief customer observation of its name-calling.
How many planes does FedEx have?
FedEx is claimed to have approximately 697 aircraft with its service extended to 650 airports across the globe.
