Pando to digitise logistics operations for Fortune 500s, blue-chips firms

Large global businesses manage their deliveries manually, even today. But as new age e-commerce companies make logistics a strategic priority by going for digitisation, traditional enterprises are waking up to re-imagining what deliveries can do. However, there are few products or services to help them.
 

This is where Pando, a Bengaluru-based company, fits in. Founded in 2015 by Nitin Jayakrishnan and Abhijeet Manohar, the start-up looks to digitise logistics operations for Fortune 500s, global blue-chips and logistics companies.

Recently, it raised $2 million in seed funding in a round led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Kashyap Deorah of Hypertrack, Girish Mathrubootham of  Freshdesk, Nishant Rao of Sirion Labs (ex-LinkedIn India MD), and P Balaji of  Vodafone (ex-Nokia, Sony Erickson India MD).
 

“Pando is enabling enterprises to turn their supply chain management function from a cost-centre to a source of competitive differentiation by providing real-time visibility and seamless digital links across the value chain. Pando’s clients are so happy with the product that they are conducting workshops to make the most of it. This kind of love from a large marquee enterprise clients shows the team’s domain understanding and focus on customer success, and convinced us to partner with them in bringing about this transformation not just with Indian clients but also in global markets,” said Sandeep Singhal, co-founder and managing director, Nexus Venture Partners.

According to Jayakrishnan, also CEO of the company, “Pando was built on a simple observation — logistics is inherently networked, but the systems that manage it are not.”

The Pando Enterprise, region’s first enterprise-grade logistics management system, helps firms of all sizes digitise, monitor and optimise their supply chain operations.

It allows companies to control their fragmented, multi-tiered logistics ecosystems from a single screen and is omnichannel.   

Jayakrishnan said India spends about $200 billion every year on outsourced logistics, and globally, the number is $1 trillion. 

Large brands using logistics, transporters serving the large brands, drivers serving the transporters and end customers receiving the good are all users of Pando.

The company targets Fortune 500s and distributed businesses with significant logistics operations as its customers. “We are looking at more than quadrupling the customers base in next two years,” said the founder.

Pay as you go is the company’s revenue model. “We have introduced per-transaction pricing, billed monthly — highly beneficial to large enterprises that are tired of traditional enterprise pricing which puts the onus and the risk on the client. This shared-risk model is the future,” said Jayakrishnan.  The company claims it is growing by 150 per cent year on year since 2015.

On the use of funds, Jayakrishnan said, “This funding will go into furthering our support and security infrastructure, and help Pando reach out to more businesses.”