Blowhorn improves drivers’ capacity utilisation by connecting them to customers through website and app, enables real time/spot management, reduces fuel costs and time
Bangalore-based intra-city logistics tech startup Blowhorn has raised US$3.65 million in Series A funding from IDG Ventures India, with participation from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and existing investors Draper Associates and Unitus Seed Fund.
For Draper Associates which is run by leading US investor Tim Draper, Blowhorn is the first Series A bet in India.
Blowhorn plans to utilise the funds to expand operations to eight cities over the next 24 months, with over 25,000 daily active drivers.
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Founded in 2014 by Mithun Srivatsa and Nikhil Shivaprasad, Blowhorn’s tech-enabled platform connects customers to mini-truck owners, enabling intra-city, sub 2-ton deliveries.
Its technology improves drivers’ capacity utilisation by connecting them to customers through website and mobile app, enables real time/spot management, reduces fuel costs and time. Blowhorn also runs a driver-training programme, wherein all drivers are trained in customer service.
The startup claims to have over 1.8 million mini-trucks in urban centers alone. Its services are available across Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, in addition to Bangalore.
Co-founder and CEO Srivatsa said: “We have been able to leverage technology and operational innovation to emerge as a market leader by ensuring high business profitability and customer satisfaction. We will now focus on leading the segment across all performance metrics, and are fortunate to have investors who share our vision.”
“There have been many attempts at solving India’s intra-city logistics challenge — Blowhorn’s extensive use of technology and business level innovation has helped build a strong, rapidly-growing business with industry leading margins in a highly capital efficient manner. Blowhorn has the potential to be a dominant solutions provider of last-mile logistics for SMEs and rapidly growing businesses,” said Karthik Prabhakar, Director at IDG Ventures.
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