[Funding alert] Logistics startup Rivigo raises debt fund of Rs 25 Cr

Months after becoming a unicorn, logistics startup Rivigo raised $3.4 million in debt funding from Trifecta Capital. The Gurugram-based startup fund raise also comes close on the heels of its plans of raising Rs 141.97 crore ($20 million) in its Series F round.

Regulatory filings with Registrar of Companies (RoC) revealed that Rivigo has issued 250 Series B NCD (non-convertible debentures) to Trifecta Debt Fund worth Rs 10,00,000 each to raise the fund.

The startup offers delivery services across India to ecommerce, pharmaceutical, retail, automobile and other companies. It claims to have a network coverage of more than 29,000 pin codes in India.

Founded by Gazal Kalra and Deepak Garg, Rivigo had also launched RaaS (Relay-as-a-Service) to offer the benefits of relay trucking to millions of fleet owners in India to address challenges of truck driver shortage in this space.

The startup claims to have improved its financial metrics across all business verticals, and aims to be profitable by the end of this financial year. Adding up to the momentum, the startup recently launched National Freight Index (NFI), in order to bring transparency to the largely unorganised logistics space.

In FY 19, revenue for the company grew by 42 percent to Rs 1,028 crore, even as its losses doubled to Rs 600 crore.

Logistic startup companies have been one of the top fund raisers in the calendar year 2019. India is also aiming to reduce the logistics cost from the present 14 percent of GDP to less than 10 percent by 2022. Logistics startups and the disruption they brought in will play a crucial role in this process.

The GST rollout by the government has also brought significant changes in the logistics ecosystem, where it enabled several companies to redesign their supply chain and maintain warehouses across the country.

(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)