India spends about 13 percent of its GDP on logistics which is considerably higher than the US at 9.5% and Germany at 8%. But unfortunately there’s a lot of wrinkles that need to be ironed out in India’s logistic network. According to the McKinsey Report India losses about $45 billion every single day. Logistics is playing a very important role in almost every industry in the country from Pharmaceuticals to E-Commerce and retail to automobiles. Even small improvements in this network result in significant boosts to India’s economy. Entrepreneurs have seen this opportunity for improvement over the course of the last couple of years the logistics market in India has grown considerably. There are also a lot of entrepreneurs that are out there trying to restructure and organize it.
India’s rank on the Global Logistics performance index back in 2014 was 54. By 2018 its rank had improved by 10 points to 44.
Some of the logistics startup of India are:
Delhivery
The journey of Delhivery started way back in 2011. When Sahil Barua, Mohit Tandon, Bhavesh Manglani, Suraj Saharan, and Kapil Bharati came together to provide an express local logistic service to 5 e-commerce clients in the Delhi NCR region. This started with the simple idea .They soon realized that ecommerce delivery was vastly different from traditional delivery. The demand for ecommerce delivery had already started to pick up with the likes of Flipkart and Snapdeal entering into the market .Within 2 years Delhivery had already raised million dollars and expanded its express logistic services to over 130 cities. They had discovered a goldmine Opportunity and had started to dominate the logistics market before anyone else even realized the potential.
Today delhivery has more than 40000 people and across 2500 cities helping over 30,000 of its sellers to deliver more than 1 million parcels every single day. From its customers to its investors everybody loves this company for creating a sustainable Business and providing efficient delivery services. So far investors like SoftBank Tiger Global management Nexus venture partners, the Canada pension plan investment board and the Carlyle group have poured $934.5 million into the company.
The company had declared that it had raised $275 million in its Series H round led by Boston-headquartered investment firm Fidelity Management and Research Company. The round also saw participation from other leading public market funds. With the new capital, Delhivery’s valuation is predicted to rise to over $3 billion, the company said.
Talking about the new development, Sahil Barua, Co-founder and CEO at Delhivery, said,
“We are delighted to welcome Fidelity and our other new investors to our cap-table. This round of financing significantly strengthens our balance sheet and is a statement of confidence as we plan to go public.”
Blackbuck
Blackbuck is India’s largest online truck aggregator platform founded by Rajesh Yabaji, Rama Subramaniam and Chanakya Hridaya in 2015. The company provides an online platform to connect shippers with truckers to help them facilitate transportation at the click of a button. By providing a marketplace model Blackbuck is not only providing better pricing for customers but also more job opportunities for truck drivers. They started things with 10000 trucks back in 2015. Currently they have more than 400,000 on their platforms. They serve more than 15000 clients in 2000 locations across the country. So far investors have poured nearly 300 billion dollars into the start up over the last five years. The investors include Accel, Goldman Sachs, Sequoia Capital and Innoven Capital.
Rivigo
Truck drivers are the pillar to India’s largest economy. But they do not get much of the respect that they deserve. They had to stay on the roads for weeks or months to make their delivery on time. Keeping that in mind Deep Garg and Geet Kalra wanted to make the profession of truck drivers more humane and respectable. So they set out on a road trip across India to understand the needs of truck drivers.
After the research the duo started Rivigo in 2014 based on their innovative trucking model. This model helps drivers to switch trucks strategically placed pit stops thereby enabling 95% of them to return to their families every single day and also improve efficiency and delivery times for the customers. The success of this model is evidence bi Rivigo’s rapidly growing revenues crossing 1000 crores in the financial year of 2019. Furthermore Rivigo has more than 2000 fleet owners on its platform and covers more than 4000 cities.
The victory would have not been possible without the continuous support of Rivigos investors. They have poured $257.4 million into the company. The investors include Saif Partners, Warburg Pincus, and Trifecta Capital.
Shift Freight
Shift Freight is Noida-based startup. It is a go-to movers & packers aggregator for all relocating requirements. It aims to streamline the home-shifting space, Shift Freight is an advantage for working professionals who don’t want to overexert or stop their work to relocate. Their assistance can be booked via website, phone call or mobile app available on Android and iOS. The firm provides a professional approach towards clients and is easy to solve any problems that the customers raise. With the accessibility of a mobile phone and network connectivity it is possible to book even in the middle of the night, which is impossible with local players.
Lalamove
Lalamove enables you to make a booking at least 24 hours before completing the delivery. According to your inputs, the app calculates the total cost and leaves no scope of negotiation. The cost often calculated by the app is lower than the prevailing market rates. Moreover, your booking request is sent to different players, and you get approval from an interested delivery partner.
Logistics startups in India are an essential mechanism for initiating and growing the e-commerce sector. It is time to select the best startup based on your business needs, be it speedy delivery, safer handling of products or more structured and humane transportation mechanisms.