Axilor Ventures, Foundamental, Arali Ventures, Stride Ventures and Alteria Capital are the other investors
Axilor Ventures, Foundamental, Arali Ventures, Stride Ventures and Alteria Capital are the other investors
Chennai-based start-up Wiz Freight has raised £2.75 million Series A financing in a mix of equity and debt led by Tiger Global with participation from Axilor Ventures, Foundational, Arali Ventures, Stride Ventures and Alteria Capital raised. The investment is the largest Series A financing in India’s logistics sector. The company will use the funds to accelerate its technology R&D and global expansion into Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa with the new investment.
Founded in August 2020 by Ramkumar Govindarajan and Ramkumar Ramachandran, Wiz Freight helps exporters and importers in emerging markets book and manage their cross-border shipments on its technology platform with e-commerce-like convenience. The startup claims its AI-powered platform offers instant capacity detection, dynamic pricing, optimized routing, door-to-door tracking, and automated document workflows that save shippers countless hours.
Ramkumar Govindarajan, CEO of Wiz Freight said: “Global trade is witnessing unprecedented volatility in capacity and rates caused by a pandemic and recent geopolitical events causing massive disruption in supply chain planning and execution for shippers. He added, “We help customers take control of their supply chains by offering 10x shipment visibility, intelligent risk-optimized routing solutions, multi-carrier capacity offerings through our technology platform, and building maximum resilience to avoid business disruption.” “
“We are excited to partner with the Wiz team to build a leading digital cross-border transportation company in emerging markets,” said Griffin Schroeder, Partner at Tiger Global.
Currently, the startup serves over 1,500 companies including Adani, Mahindra, Tata, Aditya Birla and ITC, which ship thousands of tons of cargo via air and sea freight via the Wiz platform every month. The company’s state-of-the-art, high-tech command center in Chennai oversees the live execution of thousands of broadcasts each month.
The company has doubled its sales quarter over quarter. The company plans to open two new technical R&D centers in Bengaluru and Singapore, where it will further develop its AI/ML, blockchain and IoT capabilities to offer smart and connected cross-border shipping to its customers. The company intends to double its workforce and increase sales by 400% in the coming year. The start-up plans to be active in 15 additional countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa by the end of 2022 with Singapore and Dubai as the headquarters for the respective regions.
