Freight Management Platform Wiz Freight Raises Funds From Axilor

Full-stack digital freight management platform Wiz Freight announced today that it has raised a $3.5 million seed round led by Axilor. The round also saw participation from Arali Ventures and Foundamental, along with angel Investors Livspace cofounder Ramakant Sharma, and M+R Spedag’s group chairman, Daniel Richner.

Founded in 2020 by Ramkumar Govindarajan and Ramkumar Ramachandran , the Chennai based startup Wiz’s platform allows enterprises and SMBs to automate their cross-border logistics operations. It initially began with a single offering of ocean import solutions from China into India. Today, Wiz Freight offers export and import solutions via ocean and air connecting India with major international trade locations. They claim to directly integrate with over 40 direct shipping lines to offer customers an integrated and cost effective freight management platform.

“We are witnessing a huge need for digitisation with pandemic-led disruptions in international supply chains. Customers are flocking towards solutions that offer better visibility and control over their shipments,” said Wiz cofounder Ramkumar Govindarajan.

Commenting on the global freight supply chain, Nandan Venkatachalam, who led the investment at Axilor commented, “The global freight supply chain is undergoing a generational shift, driven by the surge in cross border demand, the container shortage crisis and Covid-19. The industry has not seen a bigger need than now to get organized, digitize and eliminate layering to enable faster and cost effective shipments.”

Wiz claims to serve over 200 enterprise and mid -market customers across India, South East Asia and  Middle East. The company stated that it has doubled its revenue Q-o-Q supported by strong repeat customer business while demonstrating healthy gross margins. The company’s customer roster includes the likes of Adani, Tata, Mahindra, Aditya Birla, Renew, Hero, ITC, Marico, Zetwerk and Zilingo.

At present, the logistics and digital freight market is crowded with a lot of existing players and startups. Between 2021-26 the freight forwarding industry is expected to grow at a steady CAGR of more than 4%. Some of the players that are operating in this space include Cogoport, Rivigo, Shipsy, Shiprocket, Kale Logistics, IPO-bound Delhivery, Blackbuck, Freightwalla among others. The logistics tech sector has produced two unicorns — Delhivery and Rivigo — as the rise of ecommerce, distribution for online platforms and hyperlocal deliveries have got the innovation and investments flowing in the sector. Most of these have raised fresh funding within this year.

Recently, Freightify secured a $2.5 Mn in its Pre-Series A funding round led by Nordic Eye Venture Capital, with participation from Tradeworks VC, Venture Catalysts, 9Unicorns and Blume Ventures through the VC’s Founders Fund.

The Indian government has recognised the need for stronger technology-led interventions for the increasingly critical logistics sector in the Economic Survey 2020-21. The survey proposes solutions for real-time monitoring of logistics infrastructure by integrating various existing solutions through blockchain.