Vahak, an online road transport marketplace, has raised capital in a seed funding round led by venture capital fund Leo Capital.
Other angel investors who participated in this round include Amit Gupta (founder of Yulu Bikes), Abhishek Goyal, (Founder of Tracxn) and Ramakant Sharma (founder of LivSpace), Vahak said in a statement. The company didn’t disclose the amount it raised.
The Bengaluru-based startup, operated by Epictus Solutions India Pvt. Ltd, aims to use the capital to strengthen its team and technological capabilities.
“We believe that online brand creation coupled with a huge network can bring in wonderful growth opportunities especially for the small and medium scale transport businesses,” Karan Shaha, CEO at Vahak, said.
Vahak was launched by Shaha and Vikas Chandrawat, who is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur, in July 2017. In the past, Shaha and Chandrawat were associated with Simplified Logistics Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Vahak enables logistic companies to connect with truck owners, brokers, and other transporters pan India through its online platform.
Since its inception, Vahak is said to have built a network of 40,000 transporters with a reach in over 3,000 plus locations pan India. Growing at over 200% quarterly, it caters to over 500 daily active loads.
“Logistics is a booming sector and there is a huge need of a marketplace like Vahak especially at a time when the COVID pandemic and resultant economic downturn has necessitated the resumption of inter-state business activities,” Dinesh Singh, an investor at Leo Capital, said.
Leo Capital has built a portfolio of 14companies since its launch in 2017. Tech is the common denominator for the venture capital fund that invested in software-as-a-service companies, consumer-focused ventures, logistics, and fintech startups.
Its portfolio includes startups such as diabetes management app BeatO, women’s community platform Sheroes, and ed-tech startup Edureka.
Logistics-tech deals
The investment in Vahak is the latest example of continuing investor attention to the logistics-tech space. Players in the segment are seeking to provide new-age services at scale and affordable prices.
Last month, logistics-technology firm Shiprocket has raised $13 million in its Series C funding round.
Prior to that, Loadshare Networks Pvt. Ltd raised more than Rs 100 crore (around $13.3 million) in its Series B round of funding. The round was led by the Singapore-based Beenext, with participation from the UK’s CDC Group Plc, Matrix Partners and Stellaris Venture Partners, among others.
In April, RoboticWares Pvt. Ltd, which runs logistics management startup FarEye, raised around Rs 185 crore in its Series D funding round led by Microsoft’s corporate venture fund, M12.
In December last year, Freightwalla had raised $4 million in its Series A funding round from a clutch of investors.
