BlackBuck, the India-based logistics startup that connects businesses with truck owners, has raised $150 million in venture funding.
A news outlet, citing the company, reported the Series D round was led by Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and Accel. The fundraising gives the company a valuation of nearly $1 billion, noted the report. Wellington, Sequoia Capital, B Capital and Light Street – as well as existing investors Sands Capital and World Bank’s investment arm International Finance Corporation – also took part in the round. In an interview, BlackBuck Chief Executive Rajesh Yabaji said that since its inception four years ago, the company has raised around $230 million on the equity front and an additional $100 million in debt financing.
Proceeds from the latest fundraising round will go to expand and enhance its technology, which enables truck drivers to find more jobs. The company also aims to grow its fleet driver partners. BlackBuck said it has 300,000 trucks on the platforms and 10,000 clients. Customers include Coca-Cola, Unilever and Tata, Yabaji noted.
BlackBuck developed an app that helps drivers get to delivery locations, as well as a consumer-centric app that allows companies to easily place truck delivery orders. The startup recently started offering insurance to all trucks on its network through a partnership with Acko, noted the report. According to Yabaji, BlackBuck’s app helps truck drivers in India find 25 percent to 30 percent more jobs. The company gets between 15 percent to 20 percent for each gig.
The $160 billion logistics market in India has drawn a lot of VC investors. The news outlet pointed to the example of Delhivery, a supply chain startup in India that raised more than $670 million from SoftBank and Tiger Global. Additionally, Rivigo, the startup that improves efficiency by rotating drivers, raised more than $215 million from SAIF Partners and Warburg Pincus. BlackBuck aims to aggressively grow its business in the coming months.
“Given the market we are in today, in terms of private capital being available, we do not have to do IPO for a really long time. It is all about optimizing for the objective,” the CEO said.