Exclusive: Pikkol raises funding from former 3M India head, Delyver co-founder, others

Bengaluru-based relocation service provider Pikkol has received seed funding from a group of angel investors, including Ajay Nanavati, former chairman of 3M India, the Indian arm of US multinational conglomerate 3M Co. and Afsal Salu, co-founder of hyperlocal delivery company Delyver, which was acquired by BigBasket.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

R Jayakumar, founder and managing director of Jayem Logistics and Tomu Francis, lawyer with Mumbai-based law firm Economic Law Practices have also participated in the investment, Deepu Chandran, co-founder and chief executive of Pikkol told Techcircle.in.

He said the investment was part of the angel round the firm recently raised from the Indian Angel Network (IAN).

The IAN investment was led by Revathy Ashok, chief executive and managing trustee Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC) and angel investor Raj Rathi.

The company has also formed a five-member advisory board comprising all the aforementioned investors as it looks to strengthen its management team to ramp up operations and expand presence. Sabarinathan G, faculty at IIM Bangalore and former chairperson NSRCEL, will also be part of the advisory board.

"We believe that this market requires more than a technology platform. The key is getting deeper into execution and tighter control at every stage of the value chain. The role of the advisory board members will be critical in supporting Pikkol's growth," Chandran said.

Pikkol, run by Rednile Innovations Pvt Ltd, operates as a relocation service platform where customers can search for a tailor-made solution for their relocation needs. The startup makes use of analytics-based technological backend and logistics network for servicing the orders.

Pikkol claims to have serviced more than 10,000 moves to over 40 destinations in India over the last one year.

In addition to Bengaluru, Pikkol manages relocations across Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, and Hyderabad. It has also facilitated relocation abroad to destinations such as the US, Middle East, Europe and Singapore.

While continuing with its focus on house relocation, the company is increasingly expanding its operations in corporate and international relocation services as well. The firm plans to launch specific products for corporates where the HR and administrative departments can manage employee and office relocations from booking to billing with just a few clicks.

With warehouse facilities in 42 locations across 20 cities, Pikkol plans to offer storage facilities to its customers for long-term and short-term storage.

With increased mobility of workforce and higher urbanisation, relocation market is expected to grow at 10% per annum and reach $5 billion by 2020, according to industry estimates.

The opportunity in the segment has been noticed by several entrepreneurs and a bunch of tech startups has come up in the relocation services space in the last one year. Ventures such as GoGo Truck, Moovo, BlackBuck, theKarrier, The Porter, Rivigo, Grab and Blowhorn have raised funds from venture capital investors.