Online logistics solutions provider BlackBuck has raised about $7.8 million (Rs 56 crore) in a mix of debt and equity funding from venture debt fund Trifecta Capital.
According to the company’s filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) sourced by paper.vc, Blackbuck’s board has approved issuing 322 Series D compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) and 500 Series A non-convertible debentures to Trifecta.
BlackBuck has raised a total funding of $285.2 million till date. It will invest the fresh capital in bolstering product and data sciences capabilities, said an Entrackr report.
The latest financing comes a little more than five months after the Bengaluru-based startup raised $150 million in a Series D equity funding round led by Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and Silicon Valley-based Accel.
The round had also seen participation from existing investors Sands Capital and International Finance Corporation (IFC), a part of the World Bank Group, and new investors Wellington, Sequoia Capital, B Capital and LightStreet.
It also counts Yuri Milner-backed Apoletto and US-headquartered investment firm Tiger Global among its investors.
Blackbuck, which is operated by Znika Logistics Solutions Pvt. Ltd, was founded in 2015 by Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and Ramasubramaniam B. The platform brings together shippers and truckers through its online marketplace to facilitate inter-city freight transportation.
As of May 2019, BlackBuck has over 300,000 trucks and 60,000+ fleet owners on its platform.
The company recorded a 59.1 per cent increase in revenue, up from Rs 566.83 crore in FY17 to Rs 901.9 crore in FY18. Its losses, however, grew by 35 per cent to Rs 116.71 crore in FY18 from Rs 86.51 crore in FY17.
The startup’s well-funded competitors include Rivigo, Delhivery, Ecom Express, and Fortigo.
Recently, Rivigo bagged the unicorn tag (startup valued at $1 billion or more) after it raised $4.9 million from a South Korean fund, KB Platform Fund. It was valued at $950 million in February last year, when it raised $50 million from SAIF Partners and Warburg Pincus.
In September, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) announced that it had invested $115 million in SoftBank-and Carlyle-backed Indian logistics startup Delhivery Pvt Ltd, in a bid to broaden its exposure in the country’s logistics sector.