Logistics start-up Fortigo Network announced on Wednesday that it has secured $10 million in its Series A funding round from existing investors, Infosys co-founder and former UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani, and Accel Partners.
Fortigo Network aims to use the new funds to enhance the platform as well as fuel expansion of their truck network which currently has presence in all south-Indian states, south Maharashtra, Gujarat, Pune, Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi NCR.
Launched in June last year, Fortigo Network expects to grow by close to 50,000 trucks over the next 2 years.
"With this funding, we will be able to extend the Fortigo Network to a pan-India level. Our blueprint is to enter and mark our presence in all the important transport hubs of the country including Guwahati, Jaipur, Raipur, Nagpur, Lucknow and Kanpurand, the hubs of Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand over the next nine months. With this push, we expect to achieve our next milestone of reaching break-even by December 2018," Anjani Mandal, Co-founder and CEO, Fortigo Network, said, in a statement.
Fortigo Network is India's only freight exchange platform enabled with live transaction and electronic payments. Fortigo Network also offers complementing business services and facilities for the Indian road transport sector to enable the users to improve their efficiency and profitability. Using the cloud-based platform of Fortigo Network, consignors, consignees, fleet owners, transport companies and agencies can exchange information, transact and manage their entire business.
By leveraging its partnerships with Federal Bank and IOCL (Indian Oil Corporation Limited), Fortigo Network facilitates completely cashless transactions on its platform and extends working capital benefits to its members. Additionally, Fortigo Network uses the 800+ networked retail outlets of IOCL to provide complementary amenities to truck drivers, such as overnight stay facilities, secure parking, breakdown assistance, fuel discounts, etc., for greater driver safety and convenience.
Vivek Malhotra, Co-founder and Chief of Strategy and Marketing, Fortigo Network, said the funding is also to upgrade the technology needs of fleet owners. "We want to facilitate the technology enablement of small and medium-sized fleet owners in getting onto the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN)," he said.
Subrata Mitra, partner at Accel Partners India, had a similar statement to make. "With the proposed GST coming up and growing importance of electronic payments in business transactions, we expect the Fortigo Network to play a significant role in transforming the unorganized and fragmented transport industry," he said.
