Logistics start-up CriticaLog in talks for raising Rs 30 crore

The company plans to expand its operations in tier-II cities and foreign markets

Bengaluru-based CriticaLog India, a start-up firm engaged in supply-chain management and 'critical logistics' solutions, is looking to raise around Rs 30 crore in a Series-B funding from new investors.

More than a year ago, the company had raised Series-A funds from Switzerland-based private equity investor Logon Investments.

The one-and-a-half year old company is specialised in critical logistics. It provides air express distribution services for domestic and international movement of time sensitive, highly valuable or highly perishable, hazardous and fragile cargo. Its services include pan-India distribution of Swiss watches, luxury goods, automotive and IT spare parts, pharmaceutical shipments.

"We are now looking to raise around Rs 25-30 crore from new set of investors to fund our expansion plans. We are in talks with a few investors and close the deal in the next two to three months," Sujoy Guha, chief executive officer and managing director, said.

Having established its presence in the logistics market with its niche delivery model and IT-enabled systems such as Track & Trace software, GPS vehicle locator and movement monitoring, hand-held units for remote data entry, barcode scanning and RFID as well as pin-code assignments to each and every order for delivery, CriticaLog is now looking to expand its operations in Tier-II cities and foreign markets.

"We believe there is a high potential available for us to cater to every industry segment in terms of movement of critical raw materials in shorter time duration. Demand for such services is still poorly addressed by the existing logistics players," Guha said.

In less than two years, the company has reached out to several industry segments and nearly 100 select customers including Bosch, HCL, Wipro, Louis Vuitton, Ethos, Epson and Raymond Weil among others. CriticaLog is present in 52 locations in the country.

“We have already created a niche position for ourselves in the logistics and supply chain management industry. Having proved our concept in top cities in the country, we are now setting out on an expansion plan that includes reaching out to several other cities and also expand in foriegn markets,”  Guha said.

The company is planning to expand into markets like the US, Europe and Asia. It is in talks with several multi-national companies for inbound cargo movement.

In its Series-A fund-raising programme, CriticaLog had raised funds in the range of Rs 5-7 crore Switzerland-based private equity firm Logon Investments for a majority stake. The company aims to generate revenues in the range of Rs 200 crore in the next four years, he added.