Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures-backed Velocity Commits ₹100 Cr to Scale AI-Led Shipping, Targets 5X Growth in 2026

Velocity, India’s leading e-commerce enablement platform has announced a ₹100 crore investment to scale Velocity Shipping (formerly Shipfast), as it doubles down on advancing faster, more reliable and transparent AI-led logistics for digital-first brands. The investment will be deployed over the next 2 years and will be funded entirely through internal cash reserves and revenues from Velocity’s core businesses.

Since its launch in 2025, Velocity Shipping has seen strong adoption, with 900+ brands onboarded so far, with around 60% of these coming from Velocity’s existing ecosystem. The platform is currently witnessing 70% month-on-month growth in order volumes and now contributes nearly 40% of Velocity’s overall revenues. In December 2025 alone, Velocity Shipping processed over 10 lakh orders, placing Velocity among India’s top three shipping aggregators by order volume.

To support this momentum, the ₹100 crore investment will be directed toward strategic hiring, product development, and AI-led innovation across the logistics value-chain. Velocity plans to double its shipping team and has already made senior hires from NimbusPost, Pickrr, Delhivery and Shiprocket as it strengthens its shipping and last-mile capabilities. The company is also targeting a 5x increase in monthly shipping volumes in CY26.

“We started Velocity by solving one of the biggest bottlenecks for digital-first brands: access to capital. As we worked closely with thousands of founders, it became clear that logistics and fulfilment were equally critical constraints to growth, but existing solutions needed to evolve to better support digital-first brands. Velocity Shipping was built as a strong, operator-first alternative to existing shipping solutions, with reliability and accountability at its core,” said Abhiroop Medhekar, Co-Founder and CEO, Velocity.

“Its rapid adoption has reinforced our belief in shipping as a major growth engine for Velocity. This ₹100 crore commitment reflects our long-term conviction to double down on shipping as we build category-defining digital infrastructure for India's e-commerce ecosystem,” Medhekar added.

Logistics has become a Growth Bottleneck for D2C Brands

Rising consumer expectations around delivery speed have fundamentally reshaped how digital-first brands compete online. Faster Shipping directly impacts purchase completion, customer experience, delivery performance and repeat purchases. Yet brands were expected to deal with missed pickups, fake delivery attempts, slow escalations and delayed COD settlements -often shrugged off as ‘industry reality’.

This gap has tangible business consequences for D2C businesses, directly impacting growth and customer trust. According to the E-Commerce Trends Report 2025 by DHL eCommerce, 81% of shoppers abandon their carts if their preferred delivery option isn’t available.

Velocity Shipping was co-created with brands from Velocity’s own portfolio to address these challenges through a tech-first, transparent approach to logistics.

How Velocity Shipping fills the gap

Velocity Shipping enables same-day, next-day, express and standard deliveries helping brands meet rising consumer expectations without adding operational complexity. The platform works with multiple third-party logistics (3PL) partners, including Delhivery, Ekart, Amazon, Blue Dart, Blitz, Pikndel and XpressBees, allowing brands to access the best-performing courier networks across regions through a single interface and and serves over 19,000 pincodes pan-India.

A central differentiation in how the platform solves long-standing inefficiencies across the shipping lifecycle is its AI-powered intervention layer, which operates across the entire order journey. The system validates addresses, uses local-language voice agents (Vani AI developed by Velocity’s in-house tech team) to urge the conversion of COD orders to prepaid, and automatically verifies non-delivery reports. When a shipment is marked as an NDR or RTO, the system automatically triggers an AI call to the customer to verify the issue, helping identify false delivery attempts or premature returns.

AI-led calling helps solve failed deliveries and reduce RTO’s

Orders verified via WhatsApp and AI-led calls are delivered at 1.85x the rate of unverified orders, based on over 2.4 lakh AI-assisted verification calls completed on the platform. This proactive intervention with the platform has achieved 60-70% recovery of failed deliveries where the buyer is still interested and a 8-10 percentage point reduction in return-to-origin rates, directly impacting both customer experience and brand profitability for digital-first brands.

Velocity Shipping also tackles one of the biggest pain points in logistics for digital-first businesses: transparency and opacity in shipping aggregation models. In traditional models, weight discrepancies raised by courier partners often result in automatic deductions, with brands left to reconcile charges later. Velocity Shipping reverses this approach. Billing adjustments are made only after an AI-led verification of sorter images supplied by the courier partners, ensuring discrepancies are reviewed, validated, and resolved transparently.

Founded in 2020, Velocity has evolved into a full-stack growth enablement platform for digital-first brands across capital, logistics, insights and AI-led solutions. Its financing business is expected to turn profitable in CY26.

About Velocity

Velocity is India’s leading e-commerce enablement platform, empowering digital-first businesses with fast, flexible non-dilutive capital, logistics, and AI-powered tools to scale efficiently. Founded in 2020 by IIT Bombay alumni Abhiroop Medhekar, Atul Khichariya, and Saurav Swaroop, Velocity’s mission is to accelerate the growth of India’s e-commerce ecosystem.

Backed by Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures, Velocity has raised $30+ Million so far and has partnered with 4,000+ D2C and digital-first brands, disbursing over ₹1,100 crore in funding. Beyond capital, the company offers a comprehensive suite of products—Velocity Shipping for AI-driven shipping and logistics, Velocity Insights for actionable business intelligence and Vani AI, an AI-powered telecalling solution for personalized customer engagement. Some of the leading D2C brands Velocity has supported include Frido, Bellavita, Koskii, Bewakoof, Soulflower, Rynox Gears, NasherMiles, Hammer, Zlade, The Bear House, Off Duty, and Chumbak.

For more information, visit: https://www.velocity.in/

D2C Brand Waterscience Secures ₹1.4 Crores in Investment from Peter Thiel-backed Velocity

• The company aims to utilise the funds to drive growth, marketing campaigns and new product category expansion

WaterScience, India’s leading brand in non-drinking water filtration, today announced that it has secured ₹1.4 crores in funding from Velocity, a growth capital platform backed by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures.

The investment will enable WaterScience to accelerate its growth trajectory, strengthen brand marketing initiatives, and introduce new product categories to become a 360-degree water solutions company.

Founded in 2014, WaterScience pioneered the shower and tap filter category in India, addressing critical water quality issues that affect over 95% of household water use beyond drinking. Today, the company offers more than 40 products across categories including shower & tap filters, appliance filters, kitchen filters, water softeners, and whole-house filtration systems for hard water, chlorine & other contaminants.

Range of solutions for Hard-water, chlorine & sediments

Currently, WaterScience products are present in over 2 million Indian homes, and the company is aiming to add 1 million more homes in FY25-26.

Commenting on the announcement, Pavithra Rao, Co-Founder, WaterScience, said, “This funding is a strong validation of our mission to make water safer and healthier for every Indian home. With Velocity’s support, we will scale faster and innovate across new categories, ensuring that WaterScience continues to set the benchmark for water solutions in India. Having already reached 2 million homes, we are excited to add another 1 million this year.”

Atul Khichariya, Co-Founder and COO Velocity, added, “We have a long-standing partnership with WaterScience, a true category creator in India’s water solutions space. Their growth trajectory and focus on innovation demonstrate a strong commitment to addressing the vast need gap in non-drinking water filtration. We are proud to have been part of their journey and look forward to supporting their next phase of expansion.”

The non-drinking water filtration segment which accounts for 95% of household consumption through bathing, washing, and cleaning activities largely remains unaddressed. With hard water affecting 70% of Indian homes and causing widespread skin, hair, and appliance damage, the market for whole-home water solutions is projected to grow at 15% CAGR through 2028, creating a significant opportunity for specialized players.

With a 70% Year-on-Year growth and strong presence across marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Shopify, and more than 1,000 offline retailers, WaterScience has established itself as the one of the leading brands in non-drinking water filtration in India. The fresh capital will fuel expansion into new markets, strengthen its digital and offline presence, and power innovation for the next phase of growth.

About WaterScience

WaterScience is India’s No. 1 brand in non-drinking water filtration. Headquartered in Bengaluru, the company designs and manufactures innovative products for hard water, chlorine & other contaminants at every point of use in the home. Its vision is to become a 360-degree water solutions brand, addressing both drinking and non-drinking water needs.

For more information, visit: https://www.waterscience.in/

About Velocity

Velocity is India’s leading e-commerce enablement platform, empowering digital-first businesses with fast, flexible non-dilutive capital, logistics, and AI-powered tools to scale efficiently. Founded in 2020 by IIT Bombay alumni Abhiroop Medhekar, Atul Khichariya, and Saurav Swaroop, Velocity’s mission is to accelerate the growth of India’s e-commerce ecosystem.

Backed by Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures, Velocity has partnered with 4,000+ D2C and digital-first brands, disbursing over ₹1,100 crore in funding. Beyond capital, the company offers a comprehensive suite of products Shipfast for AI-driven shipping and logistics, Velocity Insights for actionable business intelligence and Vani AI, an award-winning AI-powered telecalling solution for personalized customer engagement. Some of the leading D2C brands Velocity has supported include Soulflower, Rynox Gears, NasherMiles, Hammer, Zlade, The Bear House, Off Duty, and Chumbak.

For more information, visit: https://www.velocity.in/

Velocity Announces ₹200 Cr Fund To Support Restaurants, Cloud Kitchens Selling on Food Delivery Platforms

• Velocity announces ₹200 Cr fund to fuel the growth of restaurants and cloud kitchens selling on food aggregator platforms
• Velocity aims to empower F&B brands by providing fast, scalable, and flexible financing solutions tailored to their growth needs.

Velocity, India’s leading cash-flow based financing platform, has earmarked 200 Cr in 2025 to support and accelerate growth in the restaurant and cloud kitchen ecosystem across India.

The fund is specifically designed to address the unique challenges faced by F&B brands and help them grow. F&B brands often struggle to secure financing from traditional sources like banks and NBFCs. Recognizing this gap, Velocity offers cash-flow based financing, enabling restaurants and cloud kitchens to effectively manage capital expenditure, working capital, open new outlets, purchase equipment, and launch sub-brands under existing ones without impacting operational profits.

Velocity founders — Saurav Swaroop, Abhiroop Medhekar (in the middle), Atul Khichariya

India’s food delivery and dining-out market is projected to nearly double, growing from ₹5.5 trillion to ₹9 trillion by 2030, according to a report by Swiggy and Bain & Company. This surge is driven by rising disposable incomes, evolving consumer preferences, and the expanding reach of food aggregator platforms. Velocity’s fund is perfectly aligned with this growth and has placed a strong focus on empowering new-age restaurants and cloud kitchen brands, particularly those operating via food aggregator platforms like Zomato and Swiggy.

Commenting on the fund launch, Atul Khichariya, Co-Founder and COO, Velocity said, “The growing appetite of Indian consumers for diverse culinary experiences, combined with the convenience of online food delivery, is driving remarkable growth in the F&B sector. This shift is also fueling a premiumization trend, as consumers increasingly seek high-quality food and beverage options, reflecting their willingness to spend and indulge in unique dining experiences. Velocity’s cash-flow based financing model ensures that F&B brands can scale seamlessly while maintaining financial flexibility.”

Since 2020, Velocity has funded several notable F&B brands such as IDC Kitchen, Smoor, Daily Sushi, Brahma Brew Works, Milano Ice cream, Imperio, Amore Gelato, Jamie's Pizza, and Babas Chicken. These businesses utilized the funds to expand operations, strengthen supply chains, and enhance marketing efforts.

Elaborating on Velocity’s role in shaping IDC Kitchen’s growth story, Abhishek Manikchand Baldota, Director - IDC Kitchen, said, “ Velocity has been instrumental in the growth of our business and has become an invaluable partner in our journey to success. The beauty of Velocity's financing lies in its true sense of partnership. We felt like we had gained a financial partner genuinely invested in our success. With Velocity's support, we have been able to accelerate our expansion plans, invest in inventory, and scale our marketing efforts”

Daily Sushi, Minseong Seok (Co-founder. Left), Hyungtaek Lim (Co-Founder. Right) 

Minseong Seok, Founder of Daily Sushi, added “The partnership with Velocity went beyond providing funds. They ensured independence and transparency through the right integration of technology and support from a dedicated team.”

India’s F&B industry is undergoing a rapid transformation driven by the convergence of quick commerce, cloud kitchens, and ultra-fast delivery models. Platforms like Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, and Blinkit have introduced 10-minute delivery services such as Zepto Cafe, Bolt, and Bistro. Bigbasket and Magicpin are also preparing to enter this space, while emerging players like Swish and Zing are also gaining traction. This shift to ultra-fast delivery is redefining convenience for consumers, pushing F&B brands to adapt swiftly. Moreover, initiatives like the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) are enabling F&B brands to extend their reach beyond traditional marketplaces, unlocking new revenue streams in India’s evolving food delivery ecosystem.

To stay competitive, F&B brands are embracing technologies to better understand consumer behavior, standardize processes and are investing in automation and machinery. As India’s F&B sector evolves rapidly, Velocity’s ₹200 crore fund is designed to support new-age innovators in the space. By offering fast, scalable, and flexible financing solutions, Velocity enables F&B brands to seize emerging market opportunities, scale operations, and meet increasing consumer demand.

About Velocity:

Velocity is India’s leading cash flow-based financing platform for new-age businesses, focused on democratizing access to working capital for this traditionally underserved sector. Founded in 2020 by Abhiroop Medhekar, Atul Khichariya, and Saurav Swaroop, Velocity leverages these digital-first businesses’ abundant data and robust online cash flows to offer innovative financing solutions.Through partnerships with 26 ecosystem players, including four of the largest marketplaces, Velocity provides non-dilutive debt financing to E-commerce founders.

Since its inception, Velocity has disbursed over ₹1000 crores, enabling over 1,200 digital-first businesses, to overcome working capital challenges. The Bengaluru based fintech has raised $30 million in equity funding led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures. Its portfolio includes many of India’s fastest-growing D2C brands like Soulflower, Chumbak, and Off Duty to name a few.

For more information, please visit: https://www.velocity.in/