Indian Angel Network (IAN) has invested $1 million in business-to-business (B2B) logistics platform Pidge, the angel network said in a statement on Thursday. The founders of Pidge also invested $2 million in the company.
Pidge will use the funds for expansion, and enhancing its product pipeline. The company would also deploy these funds in enhancing its technological capabilities.
Pidge has recently launched its services in the Chandigarh Tricity area, and has guaranteed same-day delivery to its clients, even if the pickup is from other geographically close cities. It leverages its micro-fulfilment centres, known as ‘Pidge Houses’, to cater to the needs of its business partners for faster and better controlled deliveries, the statement said.
“We saw an enormous opportunity in the last-mile logistics space driven by behavioral changes in the supply-and-demand side and compounded by the problems created by current incumbents,” said Ratnesh Verma, Co-founder, Pidge.
The company claims to have catered to businesses in sectors like luxury brands, five-star hotels, legacy restaurants and national level e-commerce players including marketplaces. It’s platform functions on a yield optimisation business model that is built on dynamic of pricing and demand predictability, the company said.
“Pidge leverages its proprietary modular SaaS solution and game changing algorithms to deliver unparalleled latency optimization; while combining the coverage of traditional logistics with the convenience of on-demand hyperlocal services,” Verma added.
IAN has been betting on logistics companies for a while now. In November 2020, the angel network had led a Rs 12 crore pre-Series A funding round in Bizlog, a reverse logistics solutions provider. In 2019, the angel network had led a $1 million funding round in Cogos Technologies Pvt Ltd, an intra-city logistics aggregator.
“The last mile logistics industry in India is $40 bn today, and expected to grow to $100 bn by 2025. Of this market, over 75% is currently still unorganized and over 80% is reliant on captive fleet,” said Padmaja Ruparel, co-founder, IAN.
Demand for logistics in India has grown stronger lately, owing to deeper penetration by e-commerce companies like Flipkart and Amazon. Recently, during an interaction with VCCircle, Dholakia Ventures’ founder and director Dravya Dholakia, had said that the early-stage venture capital firm was evaluating investments in companies in the warehouse and logistics sector.
“I think, in the coming years we will see a major shift in how logistics work. We are already seeing those supply chain constraints happening all over the world. The traditional way of how supply chain worked is being forced to change and with Covid-19, we are seeing a parabolic disruption in this sector,” Dholakia had told VCCircle.
