Vahak raises USD 5 million in Pre-series A round led by RTP Global, others

Online transport marketplace for road transport businesses and individual CV owners, Vahak has raised USD 5-million in pre-Series A funding from a mix of investors for expanding customer and network base along with strengthening its team and technological capabilities, the company said on Thursday. Led by RTP Global with participation from Luxor Capital and Leo Capital, the funding round had participation from other marquee angel investors as well, the Bangalore-based startup said.

India has a humongous need for freight and special goods transportation for different types of cargos. However, millions of trucks remain idle at any given point of time due to operational inefficiencies caused by lack of technology, Vahak said in the release. This leads to huge monetary losses for truckers and the logistics sector on a daily basis, it said, adding Vahak is harnessing cutting-edge technologies to weed out such inefficiencies and help transporters optimise their vehicle utilisation through online load booking. Karan Shaha, Co-founder and CEO, Vahak, said, We are delighted to receive this funding from an esteemed group of marquee investors. At Vahak, we are leveraging technology to enable the stakeholders in the transport sector to connect with each other and bring growth.

Also read: Automobile retail records 23% jump in sales as states ease restrictions: FADA

He said the company started out with the vision of addressing the huge trust gap in the logistics space and simplifying things for transporters, agents, and vehicle owners. Going forward, we are looking to strengthen our pan-India presence, Shaha added. A lean start-up that aggregates transport service operators from across the country, it claims having more than 5 lakh trucks across the country under the online platform. By building an asset and working capital light auction-style marketplace, the Vahak team has displayed low operational intensity, ability to scale and business quality we look for in category defining companies. We’re excited by Vahak’s potential to become a mission-critical logistics player in India, said Yousif Al-Dujaili, Venture Partner at RTP Global.

The platform already claims managing more than 10,000 daily active loads with its network covering major transport and logistics hubs across the country. The startup is aiming at reaching USD 1-billion annual Gross Transaction Value (GTV) in the next 12 months, according to the release. Rajul Garg, Founder, and Managing Partner, Leo Capital said, One of the foremost criteria for investment in a startup is how it gets to scale up and leverage resources and tech to solve challenges in the sector it operates in. In this respect, Vahak understands how critical the adoption of technology is for businesses in the transport sector and is working accordingly towards that goal, he said.

The startup said it has has developed a service provider network of truckers covering around eight locations across the country and it is aiming to create a stronger nationwide presence by bringing more than three million truckers to the platform. Its network now covers major transport and logistics hubs such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru, Kochi, Chandigarh, Surat, Nagpur, Patna, and Indore, among others, according to the release.