[Funding alert] Digital freight management startup Wiz Freight raises $3.5M in seed round led by Axilor

Wiz Freight, a full-stack digital freight management platform for emerging markets, on Tuesday announced that it has raised $3.5 million fund in its seed round led by Axilor. The round also saw participation from Arali Ventures and Foundamental, along with angel investors Ramakant Sharma, Co-founder of LivSpace, and Daniel Richner, Chairman of M+R Spedag Group, a Swiss-based logistics conglomerate.

Founded by logistics veterans Ramkumar Govindarajan and Ramkumar Ramachandran, Wiz’s full-stack platform allows enterprises and SMBs to automate their cross-border logistics operations. 

“We are witnessing a huge need for digitisation with pandemic-led disruptions in international supply chains. Customers are flocking towards solutions that offer better visibility and control over their shipments. We are delighted by the tremendous response from customers for our tech-led solutions.

We are confident that we will be able to create a long-term impact in this multitrillion-dollar global trade industry by leveraging technology,” said Wiz Co-founder Ramkumar Govindarajan.

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Only digital full-stack player

Based in Chennai, Wiz started its journey in August 2020 with a single offering of ocean import solutions from China into India.

Currently, Wiz Freight offers export and import solutions via ocean and air connecting India with major international trade locations, becoming the only digital full-stack player in the region to offer door-to-door multimodal solutions. They directly integrate with over 40 direct shipping lines to offer customers an integrated and cost-effective freight management platform.

Nandan Venkatachalam, who led the investment at Axilor, commented, “The global freight supply chain is undergoing a generational shift, driven by the surge in cross-border demand, the container shortage crisis and COVID-19. The industry has not seen a bigger need than now to get organised, digitise, and eliminate layering to enable faster and cost-effective shipments.

"Wiz is best placed to use this as a launchpad to build out their business. We are glad to be leading their seed round and backing their vision of being the largest digital freight platform across emerging markets.”

The startup claims to serve over 200 enterprise and mid -market customers across India, South East Asia, and  Middle East. They have doubled their revenue Q-o-Q supported by strong repeat customer business while demonstrating healthy gross margins. Their customer roster includes the likes of Adani, Tata, Mahindra, Aditya Birla, Renew, Hero, ITC, Marico, Zetwerk, and Zilingo.

Wiz aims to become the largest cross-border transporter in emerging markets by 2025 by expanding into Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa by early 2022, the company stated. Wiz also has plans to offer trade finance and cargo insurance solutions to its customers through strategic partnerships in the future.

Arun Raghavan, Founding Partner at Arali Ventures, said, "The traditional freight forwarding service players have been a laggard in tech adoption, whereas enterprise customers want a fully digital experience. Wiz’ founders, with their  industry experience and tech skills, are best suited to disrupt this industry, and we have already seen this play out in the last 12 months." 

“We are very excited to partner with and build alongside Ram G and Ram R, two domain experts that exemplify founder-market fit. Cross-border freight represents a large market that is taking centre stage in a post-COVID world and yet remains largely undigitised. Wiz's full-stack approach, combined with the founders execution in delivering momentum and growth positions it strongly as a potential winner in this space," said Shubhankar Bhattacharya, General Partner at Foundamental.