BigFoot Retail Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which operates e-commerce-focussed logistics-technology firm Shiprocket, has raised $13 million (approximately Rs 98.38 crore at current exchange rates) in its Series C funding round.
The round has been led by the US-based Tribe Capital, with other participants including InnoVen Capital and existing backer Bertelsmann India Investments, Shiprocket said in a statement.
The latest investment takes the total capital raised by Shiprocket to $26 million, it added.
The New Delhi-based company will use the funds for enhancing its product development, technological infrastructure and international expansion apart from acquiring talent for its data science and engineering divisions.
The fresh funding comes just days after VCCircle exclusively reported that Tribe Capital had made its first known investment in India.
“The boom in D2C [direct-to-consumer] brands and social selling across India has been facilitated by companies like ours who are committed to providing advanced technology and fulfillment solutions to online sellers enabling them to compete with larger brands and marketplaces,” Saahil Goel, co-founder at Shiprocket, said.
Tribe Capital was founded by former Social Capital executives Ted Maidenberg, Arjun Sethi and Jonathan Hsu. As part of the firm’s investment, Sethi will join Shiprocket’s board of directors.
Separately, Sethi said the firm was confident of its bet on Shiprocket because of its platform and its concentration on the small and medium enterprise space.
“Today, the SME segment lacks capital finance and credit, infrastructure, technology, and marketing strategies. Shiprocket has enabled these businesses to grow at a time of emerging competition enabled by mobile internet and corporations,” he added.
Shiprocket (formerly KartRocket) was founded by Goel, Gautam Kapoor and Vishesh Khurana in 2012. It provides an end-to-end commerce enablement solution which helps offline and online retailers build their omnichannel solution.
The company last raised $4.1 million in a round of funding from existing investors led by Bertelsmann in January 2018, VCCircle reported. Nirvana Digital India Fund, Nirvana Digital Investment Holding Co Ltd and Singapore-based Beenext had also participated in that funding round.
Deals in the logistics-tech segement
The Series C round in Shiprocket 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.
Earlier this month, 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.
Last month, 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.