Pidge, a logistics intelligence startup, has raised its growth capital by ₹120 crore, which is an important milestone in its expansion plan. The capital round was led by La Vida es Chula (LVEC), a capital fund founded by famous entrepreneur and investor Thomas Meyer. The existing investors of the company also participated in the process of injecting funds into the company, which reaffirms their faith in the business model and growth path of Pidge. 

Core offering and technological foundation

Pidge is a supply marketplace and a last-mile logistics platform that is interoperable. Its main product is a tech-based logistics system that offers end-to-end last-mile delivery services to businesses and individuals.

The company was established in 2019 and has rapidly established itself as a significant player in the logistics industry by taking advantage of technological development to improve the efficacy and dependability of delivery services. The capital inflow will be allocated to various strategic efforts to speed up the development of the company and its market dominance.

The new capital raised is mainly targeting a vigorous geographical expansion in India. Pidge has planned to use a considerable amount of the funds to increase its presence in Tier II and Tier III markets. This action coincides with the bigger trend of rising economic activity and e-commerce penetration outside of the larger metropolitan areas, which means Pige will have access to a fast-growing customer base.

Along with the expansion into the market, Pige is determined to ensure that it enhances its technological base. The objective of the company is to become a product and tech leader by sustaining investment and innovation in major areas, namely, AI and data science.

Such high-tech technologies are essential when it comes to streamlining logistics, reducing delivery time, and making the entire process of interaction with the customer a notch higher. Moreover, the company has high international ambitions. Pidge will pilot its logistics operating system to a few international markets and will test how its platform can be scaled and adapted to a global level.

The Founder and CEO of Pidge, Ratnesh Verma, said, “As India manifests its vision of single-digit logistics costs and 2x ecommerce every 3 years, Pidge is poised to be the foundation for that growth with the country’s largest, interoperable, last-mile logistics platform. This capital accelerates new propositions and markets and doubles down on efficient, sustainable, scalable growth. We’re delighted to welcome Thomas Meyer and LVEC to our cap table as the lead investor.”

Quotation Source: YourStory  

Financial and operational growth

Pidge is a B2B company, with its main customers being a heterogeneous population of customers in high-growth industries. The platform serves more than 20,000 brands in the quick commerce, e-commerce and retail, pharma and apparel industries.

Its customers comprise high-profile clients like Zomato, Swiggy, KFC, Tata1mg, EatClub, and Snitch. The large network of the company, which is presently spread over 50 cities, has been a sign of the capacity of company to handle large-scale operations and various logistical requirements.

The startup boasts of outstanding financial and operational growth since its establishment. Pidge registered a high 10X growth per annum, which shows a sharp inclination in the performance of its business.

The company is in operation at a ₹250 crore run rate per year at the moment. This robust performance has had a direct effect on its valuation; a company statement indicates that Pidge has achieved more than 5X since its last fundraise, which is an indication that it is strongly backed by its investors and has high chances of future returns.

The Founder and CEO of LVEC, Thomas Meyer, said, “I am excited to be a part of Pidge and have always backed founders who compound value with discipline. Ratnesh, as an accomplished global business leader, has built Pidge with intent. I have full confidence in the technology and team he has built to continue to stay ahead as ecommerce in India changes… We believe in the Indian growth story and see the potential in Pidge to set a new standard of reliability for Indian commerce. Their compliance, governance, technology, and innovation are impressive.”

Quotation Source: YourStory  

Conclusion

Pidge managed to raise ₹120 crore in growth capital, led by La Vida es Chula (LVEC), which is a strong testament to its logistics intelligence platform and its implementation in the market. Having an annual growth of 10X and a run rate of ₹250 crore, according to its assertions, Pidge is poised, in the minds of its investors, to form a key component to the optimisation of the logistics cost in India and be able to facilitate the exponential growth of its online commerce, ultimately providing a new standard of reliability in Indian commerce.