Logistics tech startup FourKites gets Series B funding

FourKites, a logistics technology startup which operates out of India and the US, has raised $35 million (Rs 228 crore) in a Series B round of funding led by Silicon Valley-based VC firm August Capital.

US-headquartered Bain Capital Ventures and Hyde Park Venture Partners also participated in the round.

The deal will see Eric Carlborg, general partner at August Capital, joining the FourKites board.

FourKites, which counts global brands such as Kraft Heinz and Nestlé among its clients, said in a statement that will use the money to expand to other geographies and for developing more products.

“The funding will further fuel the company’s plan to double its engineering talent pool and also build new teams by the end of this calendar year,” said Arun Chandrasekaran, FourKites’ co-founder and chief technology officer.

FourKites was founded in 2014 by Chandrasekaran and Mathew Elenjickal, who is the company’s chief executive officer. Its engineering and technology teams are based in Chennai while its sales team works out of the US.

FourKites provides predictive data analytics for supply chain management. Optimised for mobile, it delivers real-time visibility and execution for Fortune 500 companies and third-party logistics firms.

The firm uses a proprietary algorithm to calculate shipment arrival times across different modes of transport and says it helps enterprise shippers lower operating costs, improve on-time performance, and strengthen end-customer relationships.

“We are going to be heavily investing in research and development, product & engineering. This includes omni-modal tracking and end-to-end visibility solutions and our predictive analytics capabilities,” Chandrasekaran said.

FourKites said its revenue had increased 400% over the last 12 months. The company recently signed international deals with consumer goods giant Unilever for supply chain tracking across Europe, and with beverage major AB InBev in South Africa.

Other FourKites customers include Best Buy, Conagra Brands, Perdue Foods, Smithfield Foods and US Foods, among others. It has also expanded tracking coverage to Europe and South America.

August Capital, which was founded in 1995, has around $2 billion in aggregate capital commitments.

Currently investing out of its seventh fund, the firm primarily focuses on early-stage investments, but also makes opportunistic later stage investments.

Bain Capital Ventures is also based out of Silicon Valley and has backed companies including LinkedIn and DocuSign. The firm had last year led a Series B funding round in Bengaluru-based RentoMojo, an online rental marketplace for furniture, home appliances and bikes.

The VC firm’s managing director Salil Deshpande said last May that Bain would take the unconventional step of providing funding to angel investors.

US-headquartered Hyde Park Venture Partners is an early-stage venture capital fund investing during seed and Series A rounds.