Bengaluru-based logistics and distribution startup Hackle has secured $1.25 million (around Rs 10 crore) in funding from Pescafresh, a direct-to-consumer seafood and meats brand, and UK-based Elara India Opportunity Fund.
Investors including Callapina Capital, Indian Angel Network, and selected angels also participated in the round.
Hackle is an omnichannel fulfilment and distribution startup launched in 2022.
As a part of the deal, Blume Ventures-backed Pescafresh will be partnering with Hackle, which will manage its fulfilment centers, inventory, and last-mile delivery processes. The investment into Hackle is a part of PescaLabs, Pescafresh’s venture where it partners or invests in companies, which can help it scale up its business.
“Our investment in Hackle is in line with our objectives of scaling with the help of industry experts,” said Sangram Sawant, founder, Pescafresh in a release.
“The seafood and meats business is operationally heavy and a strong supply chain play is much needed. Hackle has demonstrated its ability to work closely with Pescafresh and imbibe our values of freshness,” he added.
Hackle was founded in Jan-2022 by Deepu Chandran, Jayaram Kasi, Siby Mathew, Suraj Valimbe & Bhargav Bhamidipati. With a distribution model in Bengaluru, the company currently caters to over 8000 General Trade (GT) and Independent standalone supermarket (SMT) stores.
Apart from Pescafresh, Hackle currently works with a variety of brands in beverages, food, personal care & snacks like Pepsi, Wipro, Nandini, Haldiram, TCP, Parle are some of the notable brands in the FMCG space.
Pescafresh had raised $2 million (around Rs 15 crore) from UK-based Elara India Opportunities Fund in a pre-Series A1 round in April 2022. It is using these funds for expanding geographically, improving its technology, and for strategic acquisition.
Founded in 2004 by Sangram Sawant, Pescafresh works on the farm-to-fork business model, owns the entire back-end supply chain, including cold chain control, procurement, processing, and storage. The startup, presently operating in Mumbai and Pune, will launch its operations in Delhi NCR and Bengaluru.
