Logistics Startup Locad Bags $11 Mn To Help Businesses Strengthen Their Omnichannel Play

Logistics startup Locad has raised $11 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Reefknot Investments, a fund led by Temasek and Kuehne & Nagel.

The round also saw participation from existing investors Sequoia India’s Surge, Febe Ventures, Antler, and new investors–Access Ventures, JG Summit and WTI. 

Locad will use the fresh funds to boost its product development and hire talent across India and Asia-Pacific (APAC). It will also deploy capital to widen its fulfillment network. 

Presently the startup is adding warehouses to its existing capacity, partnering with transport operators, and hiring talent for its Bengaluru office.

The development comes almost six months after Locad reportedly bagged $7.89 Mn in Series A funding round. Reefknot Investments led the round by infusing $4 Mn. 

Founded in 2020 by Jannis Dargel and Shrey Jain, Locad enables ecommerce brands with a cloud supply chain that helps them grow their omnichannel business and automatically store, pack, ship, and track orders across Asia-Pacific region.

“We believe that Locad’s logistics engine will spur greater participation in the digital economy as consumers outside of Tier-1 cities can now receive their orders 2-3x faster at a fraction of the usual cost,” said Ervin Lim, vice president of Reefknot Investments. 

As per the startup, it synchronises inventory (of ecommerce platforms) across sales channels and orchestrates end-to-end order fulfillment for B2C and B2B orders through a network of warehouses and shipping partners. 

It further claims to have served more than 200 brands across Singapore and shipped more than 2 Mn orders. It also asserts that it has witnessed a 99% same-day order fulfillment rate.

“Tech and data are at the heart of what we’re building here at Locad. To realize this, we are doubling down on our hiring efforts in key locations such as Bangalore where we have a strong team of developers and marketers helping grow the product and business end-to-end,” said Shrey Jain, CTO and cofounder of Locad.

In 2021, the startup secured $4.9 Mn in a seed funding round led by Sequoia Capital India’s Surge.

It counts Levi’s, Reckitt Benckiser and Emma Sleep as its clientele. Its cap table includes Antler, Febe Ventures, Foxmont, GFC, Hustle Fund, Alessandro Duri, Alexander Friedhoff, Christian Weiss, Henry Ko, Huey Lin, Markus Bruderer, Dr. Markus Erken and Max Moldenhauer, among others.

In India, it faces competition from the likes of ShipRocket and Shadowfax, among others.

As per a Statista report, the country’s supply chain market was pegged at $250 Bn in the fiscal year 2021. The industry is projected to become a $380 Bn space by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 10-12% by the forecasted period. 

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