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Mumbai-based online logistics start-up The Porter, owned by Resfeber Labs Pvt Ltd, is in talks with Sequoia Capital and the existing investors to raise its next round of funding.
According to sources, Sequoia is leading the investment of $6 million (₹37 crore approximately) in the logistics venture along with angel investor Sasha Mirchandani’s Kae Capital. The deal is likely to be announced next month.
The Porter, founded by IIT Kanpur alumni Pranav Goel, Uttam Digga and Vikas Choudhary in August 2014, allows users to hire vehicles for relocation or to move perishables, e-commerce deliveries and even construction supplies through mini trucks and tempos. The venture had raised a seed fund of ₹3 crore from Kae Capital in April this year. An e-mail by BusinessLine to The Porter’s founder Pranav Goel remained unanswered. Sequoia generally doesn’t comment on market speculation.
According to sources within the company, which at present operates only in Mumbai and Delhi-NCR, plans to enter 10 more cities, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, by this year-end. It will also use the funds to expand its fleet size and current team of about 40-odd people. The Porter ensures that ensures that its customers get a service within 60 minutes from the time it books for a mini-truck or tempo.
The Porter, which has competitors such as Moovo, Shippr, Zaicus and Blowhorn, gets over 2,000 transactions every month. Its business model is similar to that of Uber where it acts as an aggregator for inter and intra-city logistics. It connects customers with commercial vehicles for quick goods transportation.
It also offers features such as real time tracking and auto notification, kilometres travelled, login logoff time, transparent pricing with all legal and other documents on its app. All the vehicles at The Porter are equipped with a smart-phone installed with its app.
The intra-city logistics market is highly fragmented and pegged at $35 billion as per industry reports.
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