Logistics startup Ecom Express raises USD 30 M
Ecom Express
Founders: T. A. Krishnan, Manju Dhawan, K Satyanarayana and Sanjeev Saxena
Founded in: 2012
Financing status: USD 30 million for undisclosed round in 2017
Delhi-based logistics startup Ecom Express has raised USD 30 million from existing investor Warburg Pincus.
Ecom Express was founded in 2012 by T. A. Krishnan, Manju Dhawan, K Satyanarayana, and Sanjeev Saxena, all of whom worked previously at Blue Dart, one of South Asia’s leading express air-and-integrated transportation and distribution companies.
Ecom Express is an end-to-end logistics solutions provider in India’s e-commerce industry. It claims to operate in nearly 1600 towns across India and is the first private logistics startup in the country to envision statewide coverage on a national scale. The startup’s extensive network across metro areas, tier I, tier II, tier III, and tier IV towns, along with rural locations, allows it to serve the growing needs of customers by providing fulfillment services and facilitating the e-commerce business. With long-haul and short-haul services, the startup claims capability to handle 80% of its entire volume of shipments with its own network. Ecom Express claims to be poised to service over 17,000 PINs (Postal Index Number) codes covering more than 1,600 towns and cities over the next 2 years. Its customers include Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon, Paytm, etc.
The startup will use the newly raised funds to strengthen its position in the e-commerce logistics space and expand its reach to 20,000 PIN codes by the end of 2019.
Other players in the logistics area in India include Delhivery, Rivigo, BlackBuck, Truxapp, VDeliver, etc.
Fintech startup CreditVidya secures USD 5 M
CreditVidya
Founders: Abhishek Agarwal, Rajiv Raj
Founded in: 2013
Financing status: USD 5 million for undisclosed round in 2017
Mumbai-based fintech startup CreditVidya has raised USD 5 million in a funding round led by Matrix Partners India. Existing investor Kalaari Capital also participated in the round.
CreditVidya was founded in 2013 by Abhishek Agarwal and Rajiv Raj, both of whom worked previously for Experian, a global information solutions company. Agarwal served as head of products and data strategy, while Raj worked as sales director.
CreditVidya uses alternate data and technology to help lenders make credit decisions. Its big data underwriting platform applies advanced machine-learning techniques to identify creditworthy customers. The startup specializes in customer profiling, verification services, fraud checks, and propensity model setup. Its partners include Fullerton India, Tata Capital, Capital First, and more.
Vikram Vaidyanathan, managing director of Matrix Partners, said that every bank and non-banking financial company has now embraced technology-based sourcing and underwriting to help bridge the credit gap for first-time borrowers. Commenting on the investment, he said that Matrix Partners is excited to partner with CreditVidya and is impressed by their approach to enabling alternate data-based credit underwriting for the lending ecosystem.
The startup will use the newly raised funds to add a range of fraud and verification services to its existing big-data underwriting platform, as well as to improve its AI-based credit underwriting algorithms.
Other players in this area in India include Paisabazaar, Rupeepower, and Bankbazaar.
(Top photo from Nowec website)
