Logistics management startup FarEye raises $3.5 mn in Series A funding

Delhi-based FarEye, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) based mobile workforce management platform, has raised $3.5 million (around Rs 20 crore) in Series A funding from SAIF Partners.

The funds raised will be used for business expansion to other territories, the three-year old startup said in a statement. "FarEye wants to capitalise on its logistics management expertise and help enterprises across the globe streamline their logistics," it added.

FarEye, run by RoboticWares Pvt. Ltd, also plans to double its staff strength and hire people in sales, delivery and product divisions. It currently has a team of 30 people.

Established in 2013 by Kushal Nahata, Gaurav Srivastava and Gautam Kumar, FarEye – a productivity tool for enterprises as well as the workforce – was launched with an aim to solve the last-mile delivery issues on a mobile platform. Through FarEye's automation software, companies can schedule and dispatch jobs, monitor execution and analyse performance, all in real time. The software supports features such as automated routing for dispatch, on-demand dispatch for just-in-time requests, capacity planning, live performance dashboard for multiple branches, analytics, geo co-ordinates and ePoD capture, live tracking and expected time of arrival to customer, one-touch assist buttons for employees on-the-go, and security with in-built mobile device management.

The startup is also planning to integrate with Internet of things (IoT) platforms and drones to enable automated delivery.

It claims to have over 75 clients – e-commerce solution providers such as Ecom Express, Gojavas and Holisol as well as traditional companies such as DTDC, Blue Dart, Safe Express, Bajaj Capital, and Hitachi. FarEye counts Zalora, ACommerce, Sephora, MarkaVIP, among others, as its global customers, mainly in South East Asia and Middle East.

"We are a profitable business-to-business (B2B) startup and believe in organic growth," said Nahata, co-founder, FarEye. "Our vision is to create a global technology company which stays for decades. Plagued by operational inefficiencies and high costs, the $60,000 billion logistics industry provides a huge opportunity to FarEye."

In August 2014, the company had raised an undisclosed amount from Indian Angel Network (IAN).

The surge in e-commerce industry sales has opened up a new wave of opportunity for logistics services firms. Several tech startups aimed at solving last-mile delivery issues have managed to raise funding. In May 2016, VC firm Exfinity Venture Partners led a $2.75 million (around Rs 18.3 crore) Series A funding round in logistics management platform Locus, run by Mara Labs Inc, with participation from Blume Ventures and BeeNext, besides Rajesh Ranavat, managing director of Fung Capital.

Other players operating in the workforce management vertical include FieldEZ Technologies and Swaas. In 2014, FieldEZ secured an undisclosed amount in Series A funding from IDG Ventures and IvyCap Ventures. Swaas is operating in the pharma space and recently raised Rs 4.5 crore in seed funding from Fulcrum India Ventures.

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