On-demand intra-city logistics provider Porter has raised Rs 750 crore (roughly $100 million) in its Series E funding round led by Tiger Global Management and Vitruvian Partners, the company said on Monday. Existing investors Sequoia Capital and Lightrock India participated in the round.
With this current fundraise, the company is now valued at Rs 3,750 crore (roughly $500 million), Porter said in response to Mint’s queries.
"We are excited to welcome the two marquee global funds with a great track record of backing enduring businesses world over. This funding round, in the current economic scenario, is a testament of the execution of the entire Porter team. The idea behind Porter was to solve the existing market gap between demand and supply by creating a tech-enabled liquid marketplace to drive better vehicle utilisation and service levels for our users,” said Pranav Goel, chief executive officer, Porter.
The seven-year startup is a last-mile intra-city logistics provider which helps customers book on-demand logistics services to ship goods within their city. It also provides packers and movers services for house shifting on its platform.
“In a challenging market, Porter has developed excellent repeat driver and customer cohorts, demonstrating the platform’s unique value. We are excited to partner with Porter as it reinvents and markedly improves intra-city logistics across India,” said Griffin Schroeder, partner, Tiger Global Management.
The company claims that its technology-enabled marketplace helps drivers earn 30% more, while ensuring lower wait times for customers.
“Porter has built a leadership position frugally in the fast- growing intra-city market. Impressed by their high growth rate with profitable unit economics and metrics that are comparable to leading businesses world over, we couldn’t be happier to have started our journey with Porter,” said Peter Read, cortex partner at Vitruvian Partners.
At present, Porter has a presence in over 13 cities across India with more than 50 lakh customers and 2 lakh owner-drivers on board.
“Today it is hard to not see a Porter partner vehicle on the road in any major Indian city. Pranav, Uttam, Vikas and team have built a way for businesses to transport more efficiently and deliver a better livelihood for driver partners,” said Shailesh Lakhani, managing director, Sequoia India.
