Logistics platform Locus raises US$ 2.75 million in Series A funding

Bengaluru: Logistics management platform Locus (MARA Labs Inc.) has raised $2.75 million in Series A funding led by Exfinity Venture Partners with participation from Blume Ventures, BeeNext and Rajesh Ranavat (managing director, Fung Capital). Existing investors also participated in this round, the company said in a statement on Monday.

The new round of funding will be used to expand its team and technology offering.

This was reported first by The Economic Times on Monday.

“Supply chain, delivery and logistics are critical challenges and key to competitive advantage for enterprises. We at Locus have created high-end algorithms & systems, unlike any existing solution, to take care of this problem so businesses can focus on offering their customers a delightful experience,” said Nishith Rastogi, co-founder and chief executive officer, Locus, in a statement.

Locus provides logistics solutions for on-demand businesses for dispatching, route optimization, real-time driver tracking, managing on-field workforce, mobile messaging, ETAs tracking and SMS alerts for end-customers, the company said.

Logistics, among other key elements, will play a crucial role in determining leaders and profitability in the fast growing e-commerce space in India. Online retail sales could touch between $48 billion and $60 billion by 2020 from $4.47 billion in 2014, according to a report by financial services firm UBS Group AG in April last year.

Homegrown Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd) has invested about Rs.237 crore for a 42% stake in GoJavas to improve its speed of order deliveries. Flipkart Ltd has bought back its logistics business from WS Retail Pvt. Ltd through a new entity called Instakart Services Pvt. Ltd. Amazon has increased the number of warehouses from eight to 21 last year. Quikr India Pvt. Ltd rolled out its own fleet of delivery trucks, a move to further strengthen its doorstep service Quikr Doorstep.

“The logistics industry in India is evolving rapidly and it is the interplay of infrastructure, technology and new types of service providers that will define whether the industry is able to help its customers reduce their logistics costs and provide effective services. This provides an opportunity to solve these problems in a fundamentally different way using algorithms with greater opportunity for optimization,” V. Balakrishna, chairman, Exfinity Venture Partners and former Infosys chief financial officer said. Balakrishna will also join the board with this investment. Locus helps logistics in e-commerce, food delivery and FMCG, among other verticals.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.