Peregrine Courier Services Pvt. Ltd, which runs on-demand shipping app Speedbox, has raised $300,000 (about Rs 1.9 crore) in seed funding from Mumbai-based logistics firm Cismat Cargo Services Pvt. Ltd.
Speedbox’s co-founder and chief executive Nishit Dave told VCCircle the company will use the funds to enhance technology and service offerings across mobile, web and public application programming interfaces (APIs). It will also use the capital to establish a pan-India presence and expand to at least two more countries in the next 12-24 months. Speedbox is currently operational in eight cities in India, and a few locations in Malaysia.
Launched in 2015 by Dave and Kabir Seth, the Mumbai-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup helps individuals and companies schedule pickups and have consignments delivered globally through various logistics providers.
“The challenge now will be to grow while paying closer attention to great customer experience,†said Dave.
Dave is a mechanical engineer from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. After a two-year stint at US-based Cummins Corporation, he moved back to India.
Seth went to the same university, and holds a bachelor’s in agricultural and biological engineering. After graduating, he worked at BDP international, a global transport and logistics service provider based out of Philadelphia, US.
The logistics and shipping space has seen some investor interest of late.
In May, Bangalore-based Loadshare Networks Pvt. Ltd, which operates a tech platform catering to small and medium-sized enterprises in the logistics space, raised an undisclosed amount from Matrix Partners.
Other recent deals in the space include Mumbai-based Emiza, which raised $4.5 million in its first round of funding led by venture capital firm Mayfield Fund.
In the same month, Pune-based Ntex Transportation Services Pvt. Ltd raised $7 million (Rs 45.5 crore then) as part of a Series A round from Kalaari Capital and Norwest Venture Partners.