Snapdeal founders assures $300,000 to Shadowfax

GURGAON: Gurgaon-based hyperlocal merchant delivery services startup, Shadowfax has received an investment of around $300,000 in an angel round led by entrepreneurs like Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, Powai Lake Ventures’ Zishaan Hayath and Limeroad’s Prashant Malik.

Shadowfax, which was launched this year in May, provides merchants a flexible, technology-driven framework incorporating features such as automatic rider scheduling, seamless app communication, instant feedback, geo-based tracking, and location-based rider allocation.

On raising the angel fund, Abhishek Bansal, Co-Founder and CEO of Shadowfax, said, “We believe that improving the existing state of last mile delivery and hyperlocal logistics would enable all future business growth. At Shadowfax, we are looking to build India’s most formidable, credible and fastest merchant delivery service. To achieve our aim, we have invested in strengthening our people on-boarding & training with tech-enabled solutions that help us provide 100% service assurance.”

Shadowfax has invested in robust and reliable technology that uses multiple modes of communication in order to provide relevant solutions in the Indian context. It employs integrated GPS tracking functions and automated algorithms in its product to improve the efficiency of the network.

Vaibhav Khandelwal, CTO and co-Founder of Shadowfax, said, “We have incorporated several features that leverage our proprietary end-to-end capacity planning algorithm to put the merchant directly in touch with the rider, geo-location for tracking orders, rider route planning, order coupling etc. that will help us become most efficient delivery company. Our advanced technology around restaurant preparation time ensures riders pick up meals only after they are ready and use the shortest route to navigate their way to their destination. We are single-mindedly focused towards building a highly reliable and smart network that guarantees seamless and accurate delivery which will help us lead this space.”

Some facts and figures were revealed to support Shadowfax’s exponential growth within a short span of time. The company claims that since its launch in May 2015, Shadowfax today has an average delivery volume processing of approximately 3,000 orders a day and 120-150 outlets that are currently utilizing its service for last mile delivery in the Delhi-NCR region. Its service levels have made the company the vendor of choice with the merchants. The growth of the company has been driven through referrals.

“We’re growing very rapidly. We have already created a niche for our services in Delhi-NCR and are looking to strengthen our present team of 35+ employees and 350+ riders and expand into 10 more cities within the next one year,” said Bansal. “With the recent investment, technology maturity and endorsement from our partners we are well poised to achieve that goal.”

The company further aims to take its services beyond food delivery and expand its efficient logistical infrastructure to multiple other categories. Angel investor, Zishaan Hayath, Powai Lake Ventures, said, Abhishek and Vaibhav are focused on using technology as the core to build a strong merchant delivery network. This is a large problem with high fragmentation and the founders are obsessed with skill, efficiency and speed. This gives me the confidence that Shadowfax will grow into a very valuable company.”

Moreover, Shadowfax has a strategic tie-up with NSDC's training partners to enhance skills of riders and provide customized training that focused on continuous improvement. “We have opted for a partial crowd-sourced model, where anyone who wishes to be a rider can join our rider pool. However, every rider is imparted vocational skill based training before deployment,” explained Bansal.