Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has led a $50-million Series C funding round in Bengaluru-based B2B logistics optimisation startup Locus, the latter announced on Wednesday.
The financing also saw the participation of Qualcomm Ventures LLC and existing investors Tiger Global and Falcon Edge. Noted angel investors Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs; Kunal Shah, CEO of Cred; Raju Reddy, founder of Sierra Atlantic; and Deb Deep Sengupta, former President & MD, SAP South Asia, too joined the round.
Locus will use the funds for improving geographical reach and building its research and development team to expand the product line, it said in a statement.
“Quality & patient capital allows us to focus on path-breaking R&D, helping us deliver exceptional long-term value to our customers, over incremental improvements. We will be recruiting more PhDs in our data science team and are looking to double our patents by 2022,” said Locus CEO Nishith Rastogi.
Founded in 2015 by Rastohi, a BITS Pilani alumnus, and Geet Garg, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, Locus uses deep machine learning and proprietary algorithms to offer smart supply chain solutions to customers.
The company claims that its scalable solutions have resulted in $150 million+ savings in logistics costs, 70 million+ kilometer reductions in distance traveled, and 17 million+ kg reduction in GHG emissions for clients across sectors like e-commerce, retail, e-grocery, CPG/FMCG, home services, home deliveries, 3PL, transportation, and B2B distribution.
Locus works with clients across North America, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Indian subcontinent. It has offices in the US, the UK, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Germany.
The company has been particularly expanding in the Americas, where it has bolstered its leadership with the appointment of Walter Heil as senior vice president, Business (Americas), and Michael D. Parmett as vice president, Customer Success.
“We are now looking to support our customers with a global footprint. Other than the geographies we are already present in, we are also investing heavily in Latin America and aggressively building our presence there,” Rastogi said.
The company had earlier raised $30 million across multiple rounds.