BlackBuck currently has over 100,000 trucks on its platform and is present across 300 locations in India

Bangalore-based BlackBuck, an online marketplace for inter-city logistics in India, has raised US$70 million in Series C funding from US-based Sands Capital, with participation from existing investors.

The latest round of funding will be invested in building technology-led products for the freight industry to bring out efficiencies for both customers and truckers. A portion of the capital will go towards scaling operations.

Founded in April 2015 by Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and Ramasubramaniam, BlackBuck was conceptualised to make B2B logistics simpler, reducing uncertainties around placement and visibility of vehicle movement during transit and reducing operational costs.

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BlackBuck is basically an online marketplace for inter-city trucking. The startup caters to long-distance in-land truck requirements of companies, providing them with a low-cost channel of freight procurement. The company currently has over 100,000 trucks on its platform, present across 300 locations in the country. Its customers include Asian Paints, Unilever, Coke, Britannia, Godrej, Marico, Jyothy Laboratories and EID Parry.

In December 2015, BlackBuck raised US$25 million in Series B round from Tiger Global and Apoletto (DST-Yuri Milner Founder Fund) with co-investment from Accel and Flipkart. Previously, it had secured US$5 million in Series A funding from Accel Partners and Flipkart in early 2015.

Speaking on the latest funding, Rajesh Yabaji, Co-founder and CEO, BlackBuck, said, “At BlackBuck we are building products which will run logistics for the country in the near future. It is magical to see the infusion of technology in such an unorganised and fragmented field like logistics. Over the past couple of years, our understanding of freight dynamics has helped us create defensible frontiers in this industry. The journey going ahead is to fuel this revolution and enable the entire transportation ecosystem to converge towards it. This round of fund raise will help us invest much more aggressively in products & technology.”

According to Novonous market research, road freight is the largest transportation segment in India, constituting around 63 per cent of the total freight movement and, is currently valued at US$140 billion. Inter-city logistics accounts for a massive 95 per cent of road freight movement.

Logistics has been one of the hottest industries in India that witnessed large investments in the past two years, mainly due to a fast-growing e-commerce space. A few months ago, rivigo, another leading name in the logistics tech industry, raised US$75 million from Warburg Pincus. DHL eCommerce, a giant in freight logistics, recently committed US$75 million to expand operations in India.

As per some reports, 2017 will be the defining year for the logistics industry in India.

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