[Funding alert] Open marketplace for road transportation Vahak raises $14M in Series A led by Nexus Venture Partners

Bengaluru-based open road transport marketplace Vahak has raised $14 million in Series A funding led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Foundamental, iSeed Ventures, Leo Capital, RTP Global, and Titan Capital. 

Vahak has now raised a total of $20.3 million since its first funding round in March 2020. In July last year, it raised $5 million in pre-Series A funding.

According to the official release, the newly-raised funding will be used for rapid user-base expansion, building a stellar tech infrastructure by incorporating AI, ML, big data, and providing additional value-added services. The startup also aims to create an all-encompassing ecosystem for truck suppliers and become the go-to digital solution for them.

Karan Shaha, CEO and Co-founder at Vahak, said,

“Tech adoption is increasing rapidly in the Indian logistics industry and digitally-driven logistics services are the need of the hour in the current post-pandemic India. Through our platform, we are enabling truck drivers to operate for 25-26 days a month, as compared to the meagre 12-15 days they would operate otherwise. We are now all set to scale our technology and operations to capture 10 percent of the Indian logistics market and go from 1.5 million users to 10 million users in the next one year.”

“We plan on expanding rapidly, enabling millions of Indian transporters and businesses with the power of technology. We have already integrated our platform with escrow payments and plan on bringing in services like insurance, GPS, spare part purchase, etc very soon,” added Karan.

Founded in 2019 by IIT graduates Karan Shaha and Vikas Chandrawat, Vahak is a free-to-use, open marketplace for shippers and transport SMEs to discover and connect with truckers to help with their transportation needs.

The startup claims it has been quietly disrupting the antiquated logistics approach in India and helping truck suppliers make a name for themselves. On some major routes across India, Vahak is helping truck drivers earn more than twice what they usually earn, by increasing truck utilisation. 

Sameer Brij Verma, Managing Director, Nexus Venture Partners, commented,

“Despite posting good growth, the Indian logistics market continues to face certain challenges due to the lack of technology integration. Platforms like Vahak are now bringing about the digital transformation of this sector by providing tech-driven features and services to aid millions of truck drivers and shippers in the country.”

Supporting its vision to improve the truck supplier ecosystem, the brand has collaborated with MediBuddy to provide over six lakh truck drivers with free online doctor consultations. And very soon, it is set to bring in a wide range of VAS (value-added services) like fuel cards, insurance, GPS, truck tyres and spare parts, and more. 

Alongside tertiary services, Vahak has also launched Vahak Payments, an in-app feature to make transactions faster and safer. Truck drivers can request for advance/balance payments and consignors can pay with a single click. 

As per the startup, through the supply-demand matchmaking, Vahak has helped save over 27 million litres of diesel in just one year, effectively reducing the carbon footprint by 70,000 metric tonnes.