Logistics-tech startup Freight Tiger secures fresh funding

Logistics-technology startup Freight Tiger has raised $2 million (Rs 14 crore at the current exchange rate) in a fresh round of funding.

The five-year-old startup secured the fresh capital from Alsthom Industries Ltd, show filings with the Registrar of Companies.

Alsthom Industries is the cement grinding unit of Dalmia Bharat Cement Ltd (formerly Dalmia Cements Ltd). 

Its investment valued Mumbai-based Freight Tiger at nearly $19 million (around Rs 133 crore).

E-mail queries sent to Freight Tiger founder and chief executive Swapnil Shah did not yield a response till the time of publishing this report.

Earlier filings show that parent firm Freight Commerce Solutions Pvt. Ltd had received around $2.5 million (Rs 17.4 crore) two years ago from venture capital firm Lightspeed India Partners. 

That same year, the company had raised Rs 6.99 crore ($1.09 million then) from commercial vehicle financier Shriram Transport Finance Company Ltd.

Founded in 2014 by Shah, Freight Tiger operates a mobile app for truck owners, brokers and logistics companies.

The platform’s technology solutions help integrate, manage and analyse logistics operations at all levels by connecting everyone in the supply chain.

An alumnus of Harvard Business School, Shah earlier worked at US-based automotive technology firm Dana and logistics firm Caterpillar Logistics Inc.

Recent deals in the logistics-tech segment

• May 2019: LocoNav, which offers fleet management and vehicle tracking solutions, raised Rs 28 crore ($4 million) from existing investor Sequoia Capital India as part of a larger Series B round of funding.
• May 2019: Delaware and Bengaluru-based logistics startup Locus secured $22 million as part of its Series B round, which was led by Tiger Global and Falcon Edge.
• May 2019: Zinka Logistics Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which owns business-to-business (B2B) technology-enabled logistics startup BlackBuck, closed a $150-million (Rs 1,050 crore) Series D round.
• March 2019: Gurugram-based logistics company Delhivery Pvt. Ltd secured $413 million (Rs 2,890 crore) in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund to become the country’s first logistics-technology unicorn.