India’s largest open marketplace for road transportation Vahak loads up $14m series A funding round
L2R Karan Shaha and Vikas Chandrawat, Co-Founders Vahak
21st June 2022 – Bangalore, India; Goods worth billions are transported across India’s roads every day and driving this supply chain is India’s largest open road transport marketplace Vahak. The company today announced its $14m Series A fundraise as it scales operations with a sharp focus on supplier well-being and sustainability. Nexus Venture Partners led the funding round with participation from Fundamental, iSeed Ventures, Leo Capital, RTP Global, & Titan Capital. Vahak has now raised a total of $20.3m since its first round in March 2020.
The funding will be used for rapid user-base expansion, building a stellar tech infrastructure by incorporating AI, ML, Big Data, and providing additional value-added services. Vahak aims to create an all-encompassing ecosystem for truck suppliers and become the go-to digital solution for them.
Founded by Karan Shaha and Vikas Chandrawat in 2019, Vahak is a free-to-use, open marketplace for shippers and transport SMEs to discover and connect with truckers to help with their transportation needs. The start-up has been quietly disrupting the antiquated logistics approach in India and helping truck suppliers make a name for themselves. On some major routes across India, Vahak is helping truck drivers earn more than twice what they usually earn, by increasing truck utilization.
Karan Shaha, CEO, and Co-Founder at Vahak commented: “Tech adoption is increasing rapidly in the Indian logistics industry and digitally-driven logistics services are the need of the hour in the current post-pandemic India. Through our platform, we are enabling truck drivers to operate for 25-26 days a month, as compared to the meagre 12-15 days they would operate otherwise. We are now all set to scale our technology and operations to capture 10% of the Indian logistics market and go from 1.5 mn users to 10 mn users in the next one year. We plan on expanding rapidly, enabling millions of Indian transporters and businesses with the power of technology. We have already integrated our platform with escrow payments and plan on bringing in services like insurance, GPS, spare part purchase, etc. very soon.”
On leading the investment round Sameer Brij Verma, Managing Director, Nexus Venture Partners, said, “Despite posting good growth, the Indian logistics market continues to face certain challenges due to the lack of technology integration. Platforms like Vahak are now bringing about the digital transformation of this sector by providing tech-driven features and services to aid millions of truck drivers and shippers in the country. As India aims to cross the $5 trillion economy mark, and build common wealth for all citizens, it is imperative that such tech-driven initiatives receive adequate support from all quarters. We appreciate the tremendous work Vahak is doing and are glad to support them in their journey towards enabling digital, sustainable and cutting-edge transport operations in India.”
Over the course of its journey, Vahak has successfully ushered in an unprecedented revolution in the Indian logistics sector. Transport operations in India are dominated by unorganized players that contribute to 86% of the entire market! This ultimately leads to high costs, lost opportunities, a number of inefficiencies, and a lack of transparency. This is why Vahak has focused on creating a supply-first platform that empowers transporters with the technology to find loads on demand, make their own digital brand and expand their business across boundaries.
Supporting their vision to improve the truck supplier ecosystem, Vahak has collaborated with MediBuddy to provide over 6 lakh truck drivers with free online doctor consultations. And very soon, it is set to bring in a wide range of VAS (value-added services), like fuel cards, insurance, GPS, truck tyres & spare parts, and more. Alongside tertiary services, Vahak has also launched Vahak Payments, an in-app feature to make transactions faster and safer. Truck drivers can request for advance/balance payments and consignors can pay with a single click. Vahak Payments are safe and fast and help mitigate major payment issues.
Through faster & smarter supply-demand matchmaking, Vahak has helped save over 27 million litres of diesel in just one year, effectively reducing the carbon footprint by 70,000 metric tonnes. With climate change becoming increasingly worrisome by the day, steps like these go a long way in promising a greener tomorrow.
