TYGR App Secures $3 Mn Pre-Series A Funding From Franchise India

Transport and logistics app TYGR has raised $3 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Franchise India, an Asian franchise and retail solution provider, and a group of fellow investors.

This fund will be utilised for marketing, product development, and to expand the franchisee-led distribution network in India and globally.

Gaurav Marya, Chairman, Franchise India said, “TYGR’s business is unique in the sense that it is bound by technology, driven by diversity and enabled by entrepreneurship”.

Launched in April 2016 by Dipanjan Purkayastha and Aditya Poddar, TYGR is claimed to be the world’s first app platform to automate passengers, delivery, logistics, and specialty vehicles. The aim is to integrate big data analytics and Internet of Things into day-to-day transportation, making it easy to plan, hire, track and pay for needs of individuals and businesses.

The app has real-time tracking and monitoring of commercial vehicles. In India, these vehicles are presently operational in Kolkata, where TYGR started with monitoring of 2,000 cabs and 500 bikes earlier this year. It now claims to have automated almost every mode of transport – cabs, bikes, ambulances, trucks, buses, delivery, and logistics in the city.

As said by Dipanjan, “TYGR will disrupt the industry by making transportation services as easy and efficient as booking a taxi over the phone. TYGR’s easy-to-use interface and highly configurable back-end means the platform can adapt itself to different transport verticals and the specific needs of each region.”

TYGR will work on a franchisee model wherein it will identify local franchises in the transport sector to help expand its operations, who in turn will hire a cluster of local franchises to get in touch with  vehicle owners and onboard them. In return, these local franchises will allow them to use the TYGR app by automating their vehicles and charge licensing fees.

The team now plans to expand pan-India, as well as UK, Canada, Greece, and Singapore in the coming months. “We are even planning automation of mass transit vehicles,” added Aditya.

With a team of 900 professionals, 40 offices and outreach in 300 towns and cities, the Franchise India Group has claimed to touch more than 5 Mn individual entrepreneurs, impacting more than 2,50,000 businesses. The company has more than 2,500 brands spread across a palette of verticals such as retail, fashion, health, beauty, wellness, education, real estate, etc.