India’s FarEye Attracts M12, Others In $25M Series D
The ability to move goods quickly and reliably has become more important to consumers and businesses, especially as the home deliveries sector has increased in the age of online shopping.
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It has also caught the attention of investors such as Microsoft’s venture fund, M12, Eight Roads Ventures and Honeywell Ventures, which decided to lead New Delhi, India-based FarEye’s Series D funding round.
The first-time investors, along with existing investor SAIF Partners, sunk $25 million into FarEye, which created a software-as-a-service logistics platform that enables customers to orchestrate, track and optimize their logistics operations, making it real-time and predictive.
“We see some of the logistics industry running in the Stone Age, so we want to bring that predictability so we know what is happening before it happens,” CEO Kushal Nahata told Crunchbase News.
Including this new round of funding, FarEye has raised $40 million since its inception in 2013, he said.
FarEye is in good company. In the past few months, other logistic startups have had success in raising venture funds, such as Swedish tech company Instabox, which closed a €36 million (about $39 million) financing round in April, and Golden, Colorado-based Outrider, which brought in $53 million in funding in February.
Growth spurt
In the past two years, FarEye has experienced about 250 percent growth stemming from automotive and manufacturing, as well as home delivery, which has seen a surge, Nahata said.
Much of the home delivery increase has happened recently as people are staying home during the COVID-19 pandemic. That has also caused businesses to be quicker in adopting technology, he said.
“I have never seen grocery companies go for a technology this fast in my entire journey,” Nahata said. “The good thing happening is that businesses are trying to engage remotely and that is productive.”
Meanwhile, FarEye’s platform logs in more than 10 million transactions every day across the globe. The company has also put together a network of more than 150 retailers, consumer packaged goods companies, logistics and transportation providers such as DHL, Amway, Hilti, Walmart and Dominos.
“From just-in-time logistics optimization to last-mile transportation notifications for end customers, supply chain visibility is a business imperative for organizations,” Abhi Kumar, M12 India lead, said in a written statement. “FarEye stands out amongst other supply chain solutions for its orchestration and predictive intelligence capabilities, which equip enterprise customers to respond quickly and strategically in dynamic business environments.”
Nahata said FarEye will use the Series D funds to further invest in the platform’s predictive capabilities, expand into new markets and grow its already 300-member teams in the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions over the next 12 months.