Third-party logistics services provider AVG Logistics Ltd has raised Rs 9.41 crore ($1.45 million) as anchor investment from consumer-focussed venture capital firm Sixth Sense Ventures ahead of its initial public offering.
The VC firm’s second fund, Sixth Sense India Opportunities II, picked up 8,79,600 shares—or an 11% stake—in AVG Logistics at Rs 107 apiece, according to a stock-exchange filing.
The logistics company is listing its shares on NSE Emerge, the stock exchange’s platform for small and medium enterprises. The offer opened on Wednesday and closes on 3 April. The company has set a price band of Rs 105-107 per share.
Sanjay Gupta, managing director and CEO at AVG Logistics, said Sixth Sense Venture’s expertise, reach and deep understanding of the consumer sector will help the company scale its business.
“The business is totally consumer-sector driven, which makes it extremely sticky,†said Nikhil Vora, founder of Sixth Sense.
Founded in 2010, Delhi-based AVG Logistics offers transportation, warehousing and value-added services.
As on 30 September 2017, the company had warehouses in Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Delhi and Panipat with total space of 3,54,000 sq ft. It has 49 branches across the country.
The company made a net profit of Rs 4.43 crore on revenue from operations of Rs 194.74 crore for the year through March 2017. Clients from the fast-moving consumer goods segment accounted for 57.2% of total revenue.
This is the second investment by Sixth Sense Ventures’ second domestic fund.
The fund made its debut investment earlier this month, backing Eupheus Learning. The education company develops textbooks and their digitised versions to integrate class and home learning.
The second fund, which has a target corpus of Rs 350 crore ($54 million), was aiming to mark the first close by March-end. However, Vora had said that the fund size might increase as talks with a few foreign investors were on.
Sixth Sense had raised Rs 125 crore in its first fund. It backed 10 companies, including gaming arcade operator Smaaash Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, Hindustan Foods Ltd, JHS Svendgaard Laboratories Pvt. Ltd and hyperlocal logistics service provider Grab.