GAIL Invests In TruckSuvidha

TruckSuvidha cofounder Ishu Bansal said that the fresh funds will be used for expansion. The company will also focus on strengthening its technology backend. The market size of the Indian logistics sector shall hit $215 Bn by 2020.

In October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the role of innovators from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in boosting the ecosystem and also lauded the ability of startups to transcend state boundaries. One such innovator leveraging technology to solve Indian problems is Yamuna Nagar-based logistics tech startup TruckSuvidha.

After more than five years of bootstrapping, the company has now raised its seed funding round. Talking to Inc42, TruckSuvidha cofounder Ishu Bansal said that the company has raised an undisclosed seed round from Maharatna Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL).

Bansal told us that the company will be using the funds to invest in technology backend and also invest towards entering more cities as part of the company’s expansion plans. Founded by Bansal and Amit Punaini, TruckSuvidha is a marketplace to connect transporters, truck drivers, customers, and other related entities.

TruckSuvidha: Easing Access To Transportation

Customers can post and search for loads and trucks on the website and at the same time can track and receive requests for the same. The service can be utilized by transporters, truck drivers, packers and movers, and even people who are looking for intercity or interstate shifting of their household goods.

Customers can select trucks based on their requirements. This helps logistics heads, transporters, delivery heads, etc., manage the movement of the vehicle and material loads efficiently, at the same time allowing truck drivers to get return loads on the trip.

The company claims that it has over 332K trucks online with over 1500 daily visitors. It claims to have more than 34K registered transporters, with over 1550 bookings each day.

The users can subscribe to the platform for regular updates and the company also has a SaaS solution to help transporters manage their supply chain. It provides them bookings through their contractual bookings, which can help them save up to 5-15% on their costs.

However, TruckSuvidha monetizes mostly through its additional services of GPS as well as FASTtag solutions. Bansal told us that the company has been breakeven since 2016, so the fresh funding wasn’t a need but an opportunity.

Trucksuvidha was incubated at Atal Incubation Centre- BIMTECH, an incubation center set up under the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog. “AIC-BIMTECH has been associated with TruckSuvidha for almost a year now. We have seen them reach this stage, bootstrapped, only due to their passion towards the trucking community and strong work ethics,” said Dr  Abha Rishi, CEO, of Atal Incubation Centre-BIMTECH.

Read More at: http://bit.ly/2qDkmWI