What does India’s logistics sector need to drive growth?
Some industry players anticipate an expansion of the ecommerce industry, higher infrastructure spending, and rising demand for specialised logistics services as growth drivers. On the other hand, shortcomings like extensive paperwork and last-mile connectivity need a boost to meet international standards.
Especially for MSMEs with tight budgets, any increase in logistics costs eats directly into their profit margin.
Wanting to help businesses with their logistics need, cousins Nisschal Jain and Sugam Jain, along with their friend, Parinay Itkan, started . While co-founders Nisschal and Sugam are the CEOs, Parinay is the COO of the company.
The trio stumbled upon the idea for Shypmax when they realised the problems faced by Indian exporters and importers.
“We developed the brand, products, and services to address issues encountered by thousands of Indian companies and sellers who wanted to grow their operations internationally but faced significant difficulties due to high prices and complicated cross-border shipping,” Nisschal tells YourStory.
Gurugram-based Shypmax, founded in 2020, aims to ease these pain points. The startup operates on a cross-border Logistics Platform-as-a-Service (LPaaS) model.
Shypmax enables business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), and customer-to-customer (C2C) businesses to manage cross-border shipments, supported with premium services at competitive pricing.
“Our solution aims to eliminate the inconveniences associated with cross-border shipping, including delays, compliance issues, fines, etc., by facilitating businesses and individuals to execute cross-border shipments with premium services,” Nisschal says.
The startup offers merchants a full-scale digital platform and dashboard to execute its shipments. It claims to be 20–30% more cost-efficient in terms of pricing when compared to its competitors, including , DHL-BlueDart, UPS, and ARAMEX.
The company leverages artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and predictive analysis to offer freight price quotes to its users. The platform also reads and interprets location-based data used in the live tracking of shipments.
Further, Shypmax’s Docu Plus service database houses relevant pieces of information on customs clearance, EXIM documents, etc., to help customers with easy shipment processing.
To support micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) exporters in India, the startup has partnered with the Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO). It works with over 5,000 MSMEs and has delivered more than 2,000 orders, so far.
How does it work?
Bootstrapped with Rs 13.5 crore from the co-founders’ savings, Shypmax provides a single view of the logistics process—from booking to delivery to its customer base—comprising ecommerce, social sellers, MSMEs, and retailers.
Further, the startup equips logistics services, including international and domestic express delivery, freight forwarding, and customs clearance.
Its cross-border delivery services are available in over 220 countries, including the UK, US, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe, and Canada.
From a 50-gram courier package to a 5,000-kg container, Shypmax’s last-mile fleet is available in over 25 Indian cities, and by March 2023, it plans to expand it to 50 cities.
The startup also delivers pan-India with the help of third-party service providers in multiple locations. “We are expanding pan-India to cover more ground and to service pickups and deliveries for EXIM trade by the next quarter,” the co-founder adds.
Shypmax generates 90% of its business from domestic merchants and 10% from international merchants. “However, we have various partnerships, which will help us even out the difference in the split,” Nisschal adds.
At present, Shypmax has a team of 200 employees. It claims to have a repeat customer rate of 95%.
Connecting global brands and customers
For its international customers, the startup has introduced Shypmax Club—a subsidiary of Shypmax—which offers a full-stack AI-enabled service, including personal shop and ship and global ecommerce discovery, on three separate apps. These include:
Importee: Enables users to shop from global stores, pay in Indian rupees, including duties and taxes, and receive deliveries at their doorstep.
In fact, its global shipping service allows users to shop from international brands and stores in the US and UK to have them delivered anywhere in India.
ShypMyBox: Allows users to send multiple parcels to the startup’s US and UK addresses. After the startup receives the items, it consolidates, repacks, and sends them as a single package to the destination.
Connect: Allows users to send parcels globally and have them picked up at their doorstep and delivered to their destination.
At present, Shypmax works with 50 partner companies and organisations, including Amazon, Shopify, eBay, Magento, and WooCommerce, as well as has a managed fleet at one location and over 70 carrier and network partnerships.
“We provide merchants and customers with landed cost solutions, which refers to all the fees incurred by our customer to deliver a shipment to its final destination,” says Nisschal.
Growth and the way ahead
According to Imarc, the global logistics market was pegged at $5.2 trillion in 2022, expected to reach $6.8 trillion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 4.5% during 2023–2028. On the other hand, the Indian logistics market is expected to grow at 9.17% during 2022–2027.
Shypmax is in the process of closing a Rs 25 crore pre-Series A funding round. The startup’s revenue comes from freight and courier charges. Its shipping charges start between Rs 225 and Rs 250 and can go up depending on the size of the consignment.
The startup sees 30–40% monthly growth in its revenue. It claims to be on track to hit a run rate of $20 million this fiscal year and $100 million by the end of the next fiscal year.
Nisschal says, “We are optimistic that we will see a 200% year-on-year growth in the number of users.”
It also plans to move West to expand its on-ground activities in key geographies.
Besides providing freight services by air, the startup has plans to venture into ocean freight services.
