Mumbai-headquartered logistics startup Smart Express is launching operations with seed capital of Rs100 crores. The round is led by IIFL India Private Equity Fund and Smiti Holding and Trading Company (Jalaj Dani family office). Promoter and Founder Yogesh Dhingra, and other co-founders have also participated in this round.
The investment is expected to happen in two tranches over the next two years linked to pre-defined business milestones to expand across cities and reach a certain scale.
The funds will be deployed for team building and creating Pick-Up and Delivery (PUD) & transit hub infrastructure to service customers across India. Other key areas where the funds will be utilized include development of unique and state of the art technology to support operations and building innovative solutions that will enable customers to experience best-in-class services at optimal cost.
Smart Express is promoted by Yogesh Dhingra, former CFO, COO and CSO of Blue Dart Express Ltd.
The startup plans to commence its operations during the festive season this year in around 30 cities. In the next 3 years, Smart Express aspires to build over 300 centers across India, which will include its own PUD service centers, transit hubs, and alliance partners.
Dhingra, Managing Director and CEO, Smart Express, said, “We are committed to building a platform that provides high service quality and better products for our customers at competitive price point through transparent process. Our state-of-the-art technology will help provide 360 visibility, faster transit time and better customer experience. To make a difference in the market, we are also creating a future ready team that has a combination of industry experience, passion and energy.”
Vikrant Sibal, Senior Executive Vice President, IIFL AMC said, “India’s logistics space is vibrant and dynamic. In the current pandemic scenario, the importance of the sector has grown manifold.”
Smart Express will build business across segments including B2B, B2C, D2C, C2C and hyper-local delivery over a period. As part of its unique service offering in the air express category, the company will provide with AM/PM deliveries based on customer requirement. To reach out to customers who are unable to afford air services, the company will also offer packages with 48/72/96 hours deliveries for cost-effective solutions.
