Logistics platform BlackBuck closes $150 mn Series D round

Zinka Logistics Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which owns business-to-business (B2B) technology-enabled logistics startup BlackBuck, has said it has closed a Series D funding round worth $150 million (Rs 1,050 crore at current exchange rate).

In a statement, the company said that the round was led by Goldman Sachs and venture capital firm Accel, and joined by US-based asset management firm Wellington Management Company, Sequoia, B Capital and Light Street Capital.

The latest round of funding will be used to penetrate deeper into the national freight transport market, besides investing heavily in technology and boosting product and data science capabilities.

As part of the latest round, the company has also offered its employees an option to liquidate stock options amounting up to 25% of their vested shareholding in the company at the current share price, the statement added.  

“Long-haul road transportation is a $150 billion industry for India. We believe we are still scratching the surface,” Rajesh Yabaji, co-founder and chief executive of BlackBuck, said.

Going by the company’s regulatory filings since last October, of the Series D funding round worth $150 million, BlackBuck has received $145 million in tranches. US-based Light Street Capital’s name and its investment have not been disclosed in the filings.

Earlier in the day, TechCircle had reported that BlackBuck had got $24.6 million (Rs 172.3 crore at current exchange rate) as part of the Series D round, putting it near unicorn status or a valuation of $1 billion.

BlackBuck was founded in 2015 by Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur graduates Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and Ramasubramaniam B. The company provides logistics solutions for long-haul trucking. It brings together shippers and truckers through its online marketplace to facilitate inter-city freight transport.

BlackBuck, which is currently present in over 1,000 locations across the country, has more than 300,000 trucks and over 8,500 shippers on its network. It operates in over 3,000 villages and 400 industrial hubs, the firm stated.

The company, which claims to have more than 10,000 clients between small and medium enterprises and large corporates, counts among its clients Hindustan Unilever, Coca-Cola, Marico, Asian Paints, Tata group, Vedanta, and Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

Having raised a total of $230 million so far, BlackBuck figures among well-funded startups in the logistics-technology segment.

A few months ago, the company announced that it will set up an independent fin-tech firm to deliver financial services to the trucking industry.