Supply Chain Visibility Startup FourKites Raises $10 Mn From Mitsui & Co

Chicago and Chennai-based supply chain visibility startup FourKites has raised $10 Mn from Mitsui & Co., Ltd., a Japanese conglomerate. 

The investment comes as part of an ongoing strategic relationship between the two companies. According to the startup, FourKites and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. intend to formalise the partnership by the end of the year. 

The Japanese conglomerate is looking to invest more resources to expand the startup’s reach in APAC. The strategic partnership is set to initially focus on Japan but would expand throughout APAC in the future.

Founded in 2014 by Elenjickal, FourKites provides tracking for more than 2.8 Mn shipments per day across various channels. The startup claims to have more than 1,100 clients and reach over 200 countries and territories.

FourKites currently tracks shipments in 44 countries and territories. The startup claims to have seen a 91% growth in new customers and a 241% increase in shipments tracked within the region over the past 12 months. FourKites also claims to be present across 270 ports and 7,000 facilities within APAC.

“We are excited to partner with FourKites to bring improved supply chain visibility and efficiency to operations in all industries and all countries throughout APAC,” said John Kenichi Kogiku, general manager of the digital solutions business division at Mitsui.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mitsui into our powerhouse network of strategic investors who are working together to revolutionize supply chains around the world,” said FourKites founder and CEO Mathew Elenjickal on the $10 Mn funding round.

The development comes three months after logistics giant FedEx made a strategic investment in the Chennai-based startup. FedEx included FourKites’ visibility solution into its supply chain and the latter got access to the data the former generates daily to train its AI and ML models.

Apart from Mitsui and FedEx, Zebra Technologies, Volvo Group Venture Capital AB and Qualcomm Ventures, LLC, have made strategic investments in FourKites. In all, the startup has raised $241.5 Mn in funding since 2014.

Earlier this month, the government launched the National Logistics Policy (NLP) to address the regulatory gap in India’s logistics and supply chain markets. The policy also aims to reduce logistics costs down to single-digit percentages to make India a more competitive market globally.

Along with the NLP, the government also launched the United Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) to enable logistics companies to digitise and achieve scale. Many Indian startups and logistics companies have been onboarded to the ULIP since its launch.

According to Inc42’s recent report, India’s overall road logistics market is expected to become a $299 Bn opportunity by 2025.