Onida co-promoter invests $500K in logistics solutions startup Wow Express

Tamarind Family Private Trust, the family owned investment trust of the Mansukhani Family, which is a co-promoter of consumer electronics maker Onida, has made a seed investment of $500,000 (Rs 3.17 crore) in Mumbai-based logistics solutions company Wow Express.

Wow Express, which is run by JMS Logistics & Express Pvt Ltd, was co-founded in January 2015 by Sandeep Padoshi, Jayesh Kamat and Mazhar Faruqi to fill the gaps within the e-commerce supply chain with the use of technology.

Vijay Mansukhani, who is co-promoter of Mirc Electronics, will join the board of Wow Express, said the press statement.

"Our attempt is to empower even the smaller e-commerce players with state-of-the-art logistics solutions so that they can in turn delight their customers. We look at technology as a tool to keep us nimble and by providing features such as real-time updates, card on delivery and 48-hour COD remittance," said Sandeep Padoshi, an IIM-A alumnus who is co-founder and director of Wow Express.

Padoshi, Kamat and Faruqi have worked for companies like DHL, Reader's Digest, UPS, TNT and Singapore Post. Wow Express currently has network branches in Mumbai, Thane, Delhi NCR, Ahmedabad, Surat and Jaipur. It has also added industry players such as Paytm, Rediff and Fashionandyou to its list of clients.

"We have been actively looking at the e-commerce space and found that Wow Express offers a fantastic mix of experience, execution and opportunity," said Ayesha Mansukhani, lead investor and daughter of Vijay Mansukhani.

Within six months of operations, Wow Express claims to be processing more than 1 lakh parcels per month and aims to double this volume in two months.