India is a nearly $250Bn logistics market, as per FY 2021 estimates. And considering the country’s ambitious development goals and an emerging income class, this industry is expected to be worth $380Bn by 2025. And while those are big economic numbers, truck drivers — who are the lifeline of this growth — are often sidelined. Vahak, a logistics marketplace aimed at making life better for truck drivers, has identified the need (and a possible business opportunity), and just found some marquee backers for its model.
Vahak has raised a new $14Mn round from Nexus Venture Partners, Fundamental, iSeed Ventures, Leo Capital, RTP Global, & Titan Capital. Since March 2020, Vahak has raised $20.3 million.
Founded in 2020 by IIT mechanical engineering batchmates Karan Shaha and Vikas Chandrawat, the platform helps SMEs and small businesses connect directly with truckers. Contrary to other platforms, Vahak facilitates direct connections with truck drivers rather than bringing orders to transporters. This not only helps truck drivers gain better income opportunities, but also gets them access to services such as insurance and health benefits.
“Through our platform, we are enabling truck drivers to operate for 25-26 days a month compared with 12-15 days they would operate otherwise,” said Shaha. “We are set to scale our technology and operations to capture 10% of the Indian logistics market, and go from 1.5 million users to 10 million users over the next year.”
Vahak’s app also offers drivers doctor consultations through telehealth company Medibuddy, health and transit information and fuel cards that can be used to buy gas at discounted rates.
Although currently in pre-revenue stage, the company’s goal is to scale its operations to 10% of India’s logistics markets and grow from 1.5 million users currently to 10 million within a year.
