The Trek to IPO
A Decade of Conviction.

It’s a Match! (2015)

There was a version of Shiprocket before our journey began.

On December 31, 2015, our first check went into the company’s account. We have backed Shiprocket by participating in and leading multiple Investment Rounds across their fundraises, more than 5 times in the last decade!

On December 31, 2015, our first check went into the company’s account. It was an early-stage bet, even by our standards.

It was a Series A investment, which we were not doing at that time. But we were driven by conviction and quality of Founding Team.

Rohit Sood

When we met, we saw them solving a real problem for India’s small merchants — a problem unique to India. This was the only company in the world solving it. This was a big conviction bet from our side.

Pankaj Makkar

Bertelsmann allowed us to find our path, instead of typecasting us into a mould from day one. They made us think strategically about whether we had network effects, data scale, and plans for stopping encumbrance — basically, all the hard questions we needed to ask ourselves.

Saahil Goel, Co-Founder & CEO, Shiprocket (BII Brunch Lab)

Rapid Scale, Hard Questions

By 2016, Kraftly was doing 50,000 transactions per month, and KartRocket recorded $1M in ARR.

Growth was strong. Momentum was visible.

But board discussions began circling a harder question:

What lasting value were we building?

The real challenge wasn’t the website. It was the lack of access to digital shipping and cash on delivery. Unreliable, fragmented, and hard to control.

Gautam Kapoor, Co-Founder, Shiprocket

The Defining Pivot

In 2017, the hardest call was made.

On a Diwali night, after intense debate, the decision was clear: Shut Kraftly down.

Go all-in on shipping.

Honestly, as investors, we did not fully know what we were doing. What we relied on was the founders—their grit and their vision.

Pankaj Makkar

Shiprocket was born—to democratize eCommerce shipping in India.

This was the most successful pivot I’ve seen in my investment journey.

Rohit Sood

Shipping in India was complex, opaque, and exclusionary — especially for small merchants. So we chose the tougher path — to build what India truly needed.

Akshay Gulati, Co-Founder, Shiprocket

Backing the Pivot, Going All In

In 2018, the transition was formalized:

Kraftly became Shiprocket Social. KartRocket became Shiprocket 360.

This was also when we made a deliberate decision to back the pivot properly.

During turbulent times, we wrote our second cheque, which was nearly as large as our initial investment, uncommon at the time.

If you fund a pivot, fund it properly. Drip capital rarely works.

Pankaj Makkar

That capital gave the founders time, runway, and confidence to rebuild.

We backed the team’s vision — when merchants succeed, India wins. We stood by that vision.

Rohit Sood

Scale Meets Reality

2019

Shiprocket scaled to 1M+ shipments per month, proving clear product–market fit.

2020

COVID hit. Business volumes dropped by 95% overnight.

But the team stayed operational—delivering essentials nationwide, launching Shiprocket Fulfillment, and emerging EBITDA positive with 3M+ shipments per month.

This was resilience under fire

Building Depth, Not Just Scale

In 2021, Shiprocket expanded overseas, launched Shiprocket Engage, partnered with Rocketbox, Wigzo, and Logibricks, and raised $252M+ from global investors including PayPal Ventures, InfoEdge, Zomato, and Temasek.

Behind the scenes, board discussions focused on de-risking dependency on courier partners by building a deeper, multi-layered tech platform.

Meanwhile, BII remained invested in Shiprocket throughout the years, making follow-on investments in 2015, 2017, 2020, 2021, and later in 2022.

This wasn’t a quick fix. It was years of deliberate execution, with extreme whiteboarding.

Rohit Sood

We kept building a tech-first ecosystem — to ensure that geography, scale, or access would never limit an entrepreneur’s ambition.

Saahil Goel, Co-Founder & CEO, Shiprocket

Securing Category Leadership

Pankaj and Rohit joined the board of directors for Shiprocket, and while several committees were formed, Pankaj also headed the NRC committee.

This was when Shiprocket acquired Pickrr, strengthening distribution and technology depth. The company was valued at approximately $1.2B, becoming India’s 106th unicorn.

What seemed expensive then proved strategically sound.

Today, no other player matches Shiprocket’s breadth and depth.

Pankaj Makkar

Even as growth investors, this is one of the rare cases where we have been part of the journey to see the evolution of Shiprocket, which was actually very rewarding. It has shaped my early career, and set standards for founder quality & learning curves

Rohit Sood

Beyond shipping, we built a full-stack commerce operating system for our merchants — after Shiprocket joined hands with us at Pickrr.

Gaurav Mangla, Pickrr

Compounding the Flywheel

2023

Shiprocket hosted its largest-ever SHIVIR, launched new products, expanded to 1.5 lakh+ active sellers, and crossed $3B in annualized GMV.

2024

Revenue grew 20.8% to ₹1,316 crore, profitability improved, cash burn reduced, and leadership in cross-border eCommerce for Indian MSMEs strengthened.

This phase wasn’t about speed—it was about sustainability.

Nearing a decade of our partnership, at this point Bertelsmann India Investments emerged as the largest investor at the captable!

Today, Shiprocket is powering lakhs of Indian businesses and MSMEs — and crores of consumers — behind the scenes.

Atul Mehta, Shiprocket

More Than Capital

Ten years later, this partnership goes far beyond capital.

It’s boardroom debates where investors and founders sit on the same side. It’s Diwali and Christmas celebrations together. It’s trust built through shared highs and lows.

Along with a successful company, we’ve made friends for life.

Pankaj Makkar

Far beyond a founder-investor relationship, we have built lasting friendships.

Rohit Sood