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Logistics startup Porter is in talks to raise $30 million in its ongoing funding round, which values it at about $120 million, said three people aware of the matter, requesting anonymity.
The round is expected to be led by Swiss investor LGT, through its impact investment platform Lightstone Aspada, the people said.
Founded by Pranav Goel and Uttam Digga in 2014, Porter is known as the ‘Uber for trucks’. The platform operates as a marketplace, wherein one can order mini trucks for intra-city handling from registered truck-owners.
Porter is present in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad, offering truck rentals for individuals as well as for corporate customers.
According to its website, it has over 30,000 driver-partners and has completed more than 3.5 million trips till date. The startup has annualized revenue of about $60 million (₹420 crore), said the people cited above.
Porter’s current investors include venture capital firms Kae Capital and Sequoia Capital, besides Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M), one of India’s largest automobile makers. In 2018, M&M had merged its own logistics marketplace SmartShift with Porter, and in turn, invested $10 million in the company. In 2015, Sequoia and Kae had invested $5.5 million in its Series A round.
“Mahindra likes taking minority positions in startups in related spaces to their business. They won’t increase their stake in the current round, but are bullish on the company and space,” said the first person cited above.
Source: The Mint
