Sahil Barua

Sahil Barua: Delivering More Than Parcels Delivering a Revolution

When Sahil Barua co-founded Delhivery, he wasn’t just starting a company he was igniting a movement. From working late nights sorting packages in a rented apartment to listing one of India’s largest logistics startups on the stock exchange, Sahil’s journey reflects the essence of modern entrepreneurship: grit, clarity, humility, and relentless problem-solving.

Key Information

Early Life: Raised by Values, Driven by Curiosity

Born on December 25, 1984, in Delhi and raised in Ahmedabad, Sahil was shaped by a unique mix of academic rigor and human warmth. His father, Samir Kumar Barua, was a professor and later director at IIM Ahmedabad. Growing up, Sahil found joy in books, mathematics, and jazz unusual for a boy his age. His early education at St. Xavier’s High School laid the foundation for his analytical thinking.

He earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from NIT Karnataka and then pursued a PGDM in Finance at IIM Bangalore, where he graduated as a gold medalist. Even as a student, he was restless curious about systems, inefficiencies, and real-world problems.

Professional Beginnings: From Spreadsheets to Street Deliveries

Sahil’s corporate career began with Bain & Company in 2008. At Bain, he worked on cases across telecom, healthcare, and private equity. But his heart wasn’t in strategy slides it was in building something from scratch.

In 2011, alongside four friends from Bain and elsewhere, Sahil founded Delhivery, initially to deliver food from local restaurants. With no logistics background, they built everything from first principles sometimes literally delivering packages themselves on scooters in Gurugram.

“We had no idea what we were doing—but we had clarity on what not to do,” Sahil once quipped.

Delhivery: From Five Guys to 40,000 Employees

The turning point came when Healthkart and Urban Touch approached the team to handle e-commerce deliveries. Sensing a massive market gap, Sahil shifted Delhivery’s focus from food to parcels—and never looked back.

From 100 deliveries per day, the company scaled to millions of shipments, covering 18,000+ pin codes, with:

• 75 warehouses

• 24 automated sorting centers

• Over 40,000 employees

• 2+ billion packages delivered

In May 2022, Delhivery launched a successful IPO, reaching a valuation of ₹19,460 crore (~$2.3 billion).

Unknown Facts That Set Him Apart

• 🥁 Jazz Saxophonist: Sahil taught himself to play jazz sax during his time at the University of Michigan exchange program.

• 📊 Daily MIS Fanatic: He starts every morning reviewing detailed Management Information System (MIS) reports.

• 🎓 Gold Medalist: Sahil topped IIM Bangalore not just academically but also for overall excellence.

• 🧬 First Internship: As a research intern at University of Maryland’s CALCE Labs, he worked on electronics packaging, long before logistics entered the picture.

Beyond Business: Angel Investor and Mentor

Sahil is also a quiet angel investor, backing startups like:

• BeepKart (used two-wheeler platform)

• Crest (AI for inventory planning)

In 2025, he joined Swiggy’s board as an independent director, bringing his data-driven operational expertise to another consumer-facing giant.

Leadership with a Soul

While his vision is futuristic, Sahil’s leadership is deeply human. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he restructured Delhivery’s entire supply chain to deliver oxygen concentrators and vaccines. He personally called clients to explain delays.

He also privately funds scholarships for the children of delivery staff one of whom is now an engineer at Delhivery. Sahil says that’s his “greatest ROI to date.”

Sahil Barua didn’t just build a delivery company he built India’s digital supply chain backbone. His mix of humility, obsession with data, and commitment to people has set a new gold standard for what Indian startups can be.

As he once said:

“Logistics is not about moving packages. It’s about moving possibilities.”

Read more biographies and success stories of business leaders, celebrities, healthcare professionals etc. at Leader Biography.