Exclusive: Vehicle tracking startup Roadcast raises angel funding

Online vehicle tracking platform Roadcast has raised $250,000 in an angel round of funding from high-net worth individuals from the United Arab Emirates, a company executive told TechCircle.

The Delhi-based startup, which is a fleet management and asset monitoring platform, did not disclose the investors.

The startup will use the funds to expand its operations across major cities in India, while focusing on states like Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. It will also use the money to expand its research and development programme, hiring technology talent and building infrastructure for its operations.

“We have tried to create a venture by building various solutions around the same technology rather than just creating a product. This has given our product offering high scalability, while not compromising on being adaptive to individual client’s needs and customising our services accordingly,” said Rahul Mehra, co-founder of the venture said.

The company provides end-to-end supply chain management solutions to its customers to help them monitor and manage vehicles and field staff in real-time. This helps its customers optimise resources and cut down costs.

Roadcast recently teamed up with the Delhi Police to manage their entire police fleet movement and equip the force’s vehicles with the latest communication and tracking devices.

Run by Roadcast Tech Solutions Pvt. Ltd, the firm was founded in 2015 by Mehra, Vishal Jain, and Anshul Jain. Prior to starting up, Mehra, a mechanical engineer by education, has worked with digital agencies Jack in the Box Worldwide and OgilvyOne Worldwide as a web designer and senior visualiser, respectively. Anshul, a software engineer, previously worked with financial services firm, Ameriprise Financial Services, while Vishal, works as a chartered accountant.

Other deals in the logistics and transportation space
Late last month, FourKites, a real-time logistics tracking technology startup, 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.

In the same month, VCCircle reported that LetsTransport, a tech-enabled logistics marketplace for intra-city deliveries, was raising almost $15 million from new and existing investors. Japan-based Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Capital Co. Ltd, CBC Co. Ltd, and Flex Inc have already committed $2 million into the firm.

In January, Delhi-based logistics management startup FarEye raised Rs 61.53 crore ($9.56 million) from Singapore-based 23i Pvt. Ltd.

Goa-based TempoGO, which provides Internet of Things (IoT) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions for the transportation industry, raised $250,000 (about Rs 1.6 crore) from Javelin Startup-O Victory Fund in November 2017.

In October last year, Japan’s Recruit Holdings invested an undisclosed amount in US- and Bangalore-based logistics management startup Locus.

In the same month, business-to-business logistics startup BlackBuck raised Rs 50 crore ($7.69 million) in venture debt from InnoVen Capital.