Japan-based diversified consumer and business services provider Recruit Holdings Co Ltd has invested an undisclosed amount in US- and Bangalore-based logistics management startup Locus, a company statement said.
Recruit Holdings made the investment through its private equity arm and 100% investment subsidiary RSP India Fund, LLC, which was founded in 2015. The fund's general partner is Recruit Strategic Partners.
This fund infusion is part of a pre-Series B round, which saw participation from existing investors Exfinity Venture Partners, Blume Ventures and BeeNext, a spokesperson from Locus said.
Locus will use the funds to expand its business through product development and customer acquisition, and to expand operations to Southeast Asia and North America, the spokesperson added.
In May last year, the company raised $2.75 million (around Rs 18.3 crore) in a Series A funding round from Exfinity (lead investor), Blume, BeeNext and Rajesh Ranavat, managing director of Fung Capital.
In July 2015, the company had received seed funding from early-stage investment firm growX Ventures, Bhupen Shah, Manish Singhal, Amit Ranjan and others.
Locus, operated by Mara Labs Inc, was founded in March 2015 by Nishith Rastogi, a BITS Pilani alumnus, and Geet Garg, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus. Both had earlier worked together at Amazon. The company provides its flagship product from its Bangalore-based Indian subsidiary Mara Studios Pvt Ltd.
Locus helps tech-based enterprises to manage their deliveries. It offers features like automated smart dispatches, tracking, fleet visualisation, proprietary geocoder and proprietary route deviation engine. The company offers the entire logistics technology stack in the form of a PAAS (platform as a service).
According to information available on the company’s website, its logistic-tech solutions can be used in inter-city long haul, hyperlocal deliveries, 3PL (third party logistics), first and last mile deliveries for e-commerce companies, reverse logistics and ridesharing. The broad swathe of the company’s clientele includes e-commerce, logistics and FMCG companies, the statement added.
Other firms in the logistics space that have raised funds include HyperTrack Inc., a US- and India-based startup that helps businesses track their executives and products in real time. In June, the company raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A round of funding led by Nexus Venture Partners and Founders Fund.
Earlier this month, Flipkart infused $147 million into its logistics arm, eKart.
Last week, Tiger Global-backed Zinka Logistics Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which operates business-to-business logistics startup BlackBuck, raised Rs 50 crore ($7.69 million) from InnoVen Capital, the venture debt arm of the Singapore Government’s sovereign fund, Temasek.
In September, Delhi-based e-commerce logistics solutions provider Ecom Express Pvt Ltd raised Rs 192 crore ($30 million) from existing investor Warburg Pincus.
