Blackbuck gets $30-m funding commitment
Bengaluru Online freight aggregator Blackbuck (Zinka Logistics Solutions Pvt. Ltd) has received commitment of $30 million from a clutch of new and existing investors for a Series C funding round, two people aware of the development said.
Out of this, US-based venture capital firm Sands Capital and World Bank arm International Finance Corp. have committed about $10 million each, the two people said on condition of anonymity.
Existing investors Accel Partners and Flipkart Ltd, along with angel investor and ITC Ltd executive Sanjiv Rangrass, will participate in this round.
Two other existing investors, Tiger Global Management and Apoletto, the personal investment firm of Russian billionaire and founder of DST Global, Yuri Milner, are likely to stay away from investing further, these people said.
The company is also in talks with new investors to raise at least $30 million more after rival Rivigo raised $75 million from Warburg Pincus in November last year, one of the two persons cited above said.
Blackbuck had earlier raised $30 million in quick succession in 2015; a $25-million Series B round from Tiger Global, Accel Partners, Apoletto and Flipkart in September, and $5 million in a Series A funding round from Accel Partners and Flipkart in June.
Blackbuck did not respond to an email sent on Sunday seeking comment.
Blackbuck was founded in April 2015 by former ITC Ltd executives Rajesh Yabaji and Chanakya Hridaya along with Ramasubramaniam B., a transport industry veteran.
The company acts as a marketplace connecting potential customers, who are essentially large and small businesses, with truck owners and freight operators for inter-city transport of goods.
The firm covers 300 locations across India and has about 100,000 truck owners and freight operators listed on its platform. It employs about 1,000 people.
Its customers include ITC Ltd, Asian Paints Ltd, Britannia Industries Ltd and Marico Ltd.
“Blackbuck and Rivigo are the only scaled-up startups in this sector. Besides, Blackbuck is asset-light since they don’t own trucks, which makes it an attractive investment option. Sands Capital and International Finance Corporations have been active in the Indian start-up space of late and understand the landscape quite well,” said one of the two people cited above.
BLACKBUCK RECORDED A REVENUE OF ₹77.82 CR IN THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 2016, WHILE LOSSES STOOD AT ₹16.48 CR