Logistics tech start-up, Porter has raised nearly $100 million (Rs 750 crore) in a Series E funding round led by Tiger Global Management and Vitruvian Partners, with participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital India and Lightrock India. With the current funds raise, Porter’s valuation has zoomed 5X from $100 million to $500 million, sources privy to the development confirmed to BusinessToday.In. The company, which focuses on intra-city logistics, said that it will leverage the capital infusion to consolidate its position, focus on acquiring talent, and expanding operations to enter the top 35 cities of India by 2023, further strengthening its position as a leader in the logistics market.
The adoption of software services and other tech infrastructure in over $200 billion logistics industry of India has paved the way for huge disruption in the sector, especially for the start-ups. This has been further accelerated by Covid-19-induced change in shopping behaviour to online commerce.
While talking about onboarding investors like Tiger Global and Vitruvian Partners, Pranav Goel, CEO, Porter said that the company is excited to welcome the two marquee global funds with a great track record of backing enduring businesses world over.
"This funding round, in the current economic scenario, is a testament to the execution of the entire Porter team. The idea behind Porter was to solve the existing market gap between demand and supply by creating a tech-enabled liquid marketplace to drive better vehicle utilisation and service levels for our users. Over the years, we have realised that apart from being a great business opportunity, we have a chance to make a positive impact on the lives of over 2 lakh driver-partners," Goel added.
Founded in 2014, Porter claims to be India's largest intra-city logistics marketplace. Intra-city logistics, as per the official handout of the company, is a Rs 3 lakh crore market. The logistics platform has onboarded 2 lakh owner-drivers and has serviced over 50 lakh customers across 13 cities in India.
The start-up says that the drivers earn 30 per cent more, customers save 20 per cent on logistics cost and have a better experience with lower wait times and higher availability. Porter is also one of the only logistics models that is 100 per cent asset light and has a negative working capital cycle, according to a statement.
"In a challenging market, Porter has developed excellent repeat driver and customer cohorts, demonstrating the platform's unique value. We are excited to partner with Porter as it reinvents and markedly improves intra-city logistics across India," said Griffin Schroeder, Partner, Tiger Global.
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