Supply chain tech startup Locus raises $50 mn from Qualcomm, Tiger Global

Series C funding led by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC; Falcon Edge and a clutch of angels also participate

Locus, a platform that automates supply chain decisions, has raised $50 million in Series C funding led by GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, with participation from Qualcomm Ventures LLC and existing investors Tiger Global and Falcon Edge. Noted angel investors Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs, Kunal Shah, CEO of Cred also participated in this round. The other angel investors include Raju Reddy, founder of Sierra Atlantic, and Deb Deep Sengupta, former President and MD, SAP South Asia.

Locus will majorly use the funds for improving geographical reach and building its research and development team to expand the product line.

“Quality and patient capital allow us to focus on path-breaking R&D, helping us deliver exceptional long-term value to our customers, over incremental improvements,” said Nishith Rastogi, CEO, Locus. “We will be recruiting more PhDs in our data science team and are looking to double our patents by 2022.”

Locus uses deep machine learning and proprietary algorithms to offer smart supply chain solutions to customers. The company’s scalable solutions have resulted in over $150 million savings in logistics costs, 70 million kilometre reductions in distance travelled, and 17 million kilograms reduction in GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions for clients. These clients are across sectors like e-commerce, retail, e-grocery, FMCG, home services, home deliveries, 3PL, transportation, and B2B distribution.

Locus works with top clients across North America, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Indian subcontinent. It has offices in the USA, the UK, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Germany.

Locus has been on an expansion spree in the Americas, bolstering its leadership with industry veterans such as Walter Heil, Senior Vice President, Business (Americas), and Michael D. Parmett, Vice President, Customer Success. Heil previously worked at Project44 and BluJay, while Parmett was a part of 3GTMS and Manhattan Associates.  

“We are now looking to support our customers with a global footprint,” said Rastogi. “Other than the geographies we are already present in, we are also investing heavily in Latin America and aggressively building our presence there.”

Varsha Tagare, Sr Director, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc, and Managing Director at Qualcomm Ventures, said Locus’ smart product suite is optimizing supply chain efficiencies by using machine learning to deliver real-time tracking and insights for the last mile fulfilment.  “We’re excited to invest in Locus to enable logistics as a service and support their journey to become a global last-mile automation leader.”

The company had earlier raised $30 million across multiple rounds.