Intra-city logistics services provider Porter, which entered the coveted unicorn club last year after completing an internal round, said Thursday it has closed its Series F round co-led by private equity firm Kedaara Capital and Wellington Management.
The round, which involved a mix of primary and secondary transactions, also saw participation from existing investor Vitruvian Partners, the company said in a statement.
Porter did not disclose the size of the round or the valuation. It did not respond to VCCircle’s queries till the time of publishing. The company did not disclose details of the secondary transaction either, but Peak XV Partners is likely to have fully exited in this round.
The announcement comes after VCCircle reported last month that the Tiger Global-backed startup was in talks to raise about $150 million from a group of investors including Kedaara at a post money valuation of more than $1 billion.
Anant Gupta, Partner and Ashutosh Sardesai, Director at Kedaara Capital, noted in a joint statement: "In a largely unorganised and underserved market, Porter has built a tech-first, asset-light platform that delivers seamless, reliable logistics solutions at scale."
“When our journey started with Porter 10 years ago, the company was one amongst many in local goods transport. Today, the company is the market leader, and more importantly has made the process of sending goods reliable, more efficient and transparent in cities in India and now abroad,” Shailesh Lakhani, managing director at Peak XV.
Porter was founded in 2014 by Pranav Goel, Uttam Digga, and Vikas Choudhary. It offers transport services for goods as well as packers-and-movers services for home relocations. The company currently operates in 22 Indian cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat, Jaipur, and Kolkata, according to its website.
The Bengaluru-based startup will use the fresh funding to expand its operations geographically, team, technological development and operational efficiency, it said in a statement.
“Since our inception, we have been committed to making urban logistics more efficient, intelligent, and inclusive — supporting MSMEs, empowering gig workers, and strengthening the communities we serve,” said Uttam Digga, co-founder and chief executive of Porter. “We look forward to accelerating our growth and building world-class, sustainable logistics solutions for businesses and communities across the globe.”
Porter reportedly attained unicorn status last year following an internal funding round. In 2021, the Bengaluru-based startup raised $100 million in its Series E round, led by Tiger Global Management and Vitruvian Partners. Existing investors Peak XV and Lightrock India also participated in the round. At that time, Porter was valued at Rs 3,750 crore.
For FY24, the firm reported revenue of Rs 2,733 crore, up from Rs 1,753 crore the previous year. It reduced its losses to Rs 95.7 crore from Rs 174.6 crore, according to VCCEdge, the data research platform of VCCircle.
IndigoEdge acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Porter on this transaction.
