Tiger & Apoletto Backs B2B Logistics Company BlackBuck With $25 Mn Funding

Bangalore-based B2B logistics startup, BlackBuck, has raised $25 Mn in Series B round of funding from Tiger Global, Apoletto (DST-Yuri Milner’s Founders Fund), and existing investors Accel Partners and Flipkart. Earlier this year, Accel and Flipkart invested $5 Mn in the startup.

Founded in 2014 by Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and Ramasubramaniam, BlackBuck is an online marketplace for logistics transactions, helping customers move truck loads between cities.

The startup brings truckers and customers on a single platform to execute transactions using intelligent auction engines equipped with smart mobile interfaces. Its technology helps in managing execution in the most effective manner.

BlackBuck will utilise the funds to expand its team and services as well as build products.

Speaking on the development, Rajesh Yabaji, co-founder & CEO at BlackBuck said, “Transportation is the largest unorganized sector globally. In India, the freight industry is estimated at $100 Bn and contributes to 6% of GDP. A majority of this is inter-city logistics. However, the commerce of this industry is unorganized, fragmented and conducted offline. BlackBuck has been formed to re-create logistics commerce with technology at its core, which would enable logistics be simple & effective.”

With 200 employees, the company has presence in 40 locations across the country and now plans to expand to 200 locations through the next year.

“The startup ecosystem in supply chain is very exciting and a great boon for the country, especially as our current supply chain infrastructure is not very reliable. Our investment in BlackBuck is a continuation of our strategy of developing and integrating this ecosystem. The startup brings in new tech capabilities that will not only strengthen Flipkart’s supply chain, but will also pave the way for innovations in this area. This partnership is an excellent strategic fit for us,” said Binny Bansal, COO & co-founder of Flipkart.

Blackbuck’s clients include both corporates and small businesses. Companies like Unilever, Britannia, Godrej, Marico and Jyothy Laboratories, besides firms like Asian Paints and EID Parry are among its clients.

Recently in logistics space, Bangalore-based express delivery service platform, Hipship, raised an undisclosed amount from Inara Capital and Scootsy founder Rishi Khiani led consortium; On-demand logistics company, Instavans, raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Suresh Vaswani’s family office; and first mile logistics services provider, Parcelled, raised $5 Mn in Series A round of funding from Delhivery and Traxn Labs.

On the other side, startups like LogiNext, a logistics analytics startup and Locus, a machine learning startup focussed on simplifying logistics solutions which have raised funds in the recent times.

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