'In India, Trust is the Key to Success'

Borzo CEO Alina Kisina on the evolving last-mile delivery landscape, how supporting SMEs is at the heart of its growth strategy and why she sees AI as an opportunity, not a threat

- By ANUBHUTI MATTA

Alina Kisina began her career as an English and Spanish teacher and stumbled upon logistics almost by accident. On the day she walked into her first job interview for the role of a customer service executive at DHL in Moscow, she did not even know how to turn on a computer. Today, she leads Borzo, the on-demand logistics platform, formerly known as WeFast, as its chief executive officer (CEO), responsible for steering the company through a fiercely competitive market.

Borzo operates in five countries and 23 cities across India. It has raised $60 million through several rounds of investment from venture capital (VC) firms, including VNV Global, Mubadala Investment Company and Flashpoint VC. The company has returned half of these funds to investors due to successful exits from regions outside India. Borzo became profitable in India in 2024 and now aims to be self-funded.

On a visit to the country, Forbes India caught up with Kisina at the company's Mumbai headquarters to discuss the evolution of the last-mile delivery landscape, why India is a critical market, and how supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) remains at the heart of its growth strategy. Edited excerpts:

How important is India to Borzo's global growth story?

It is extremely critical. To my surprise, we never paid attention to India until 2023. We had operations in so many countries, and we were trying to manage each one of them, while neglecting India's potential.

Today, it contributes up to 65 percent of the total gross merchandise value (GMV), and accounts for 78 percent of all deliveries. Out of roughly 375,000 active clients globally, about 90 percent are from India. Our India operating profit margin has been at 10 percent for the last three quarters. Our average quarterly GMV has been around ₹500 million in India. And we have about 40,000 monthly active riders in the country.