3 rising startups in India – July 20, 2016

Photo credit: Insomnia Cured Here.

Transportation is the name of the game today, with a cargo transportation firm and an inter-city taxi startup both making our list of funded startups in India. An online used book site created from a booklover’s frustrations with the space also scores an investment.

Truckola

Photo credit: Pixabay.

Mumbai-based transportation tech firm Truckola Technologies has raised around US$600,000 from Abhishek Agarwal of Fortune Interfinance on LetsVenture, which is an online portal that connects startups and investors for angel and seed funding. Several other individual investors also participated.

The funds will be put toward improving the startup’s technology and strengthening its service delivery capabilities.

Truckola offers tech-enabled cargo transportation services on inter-state routes for small- and medium-sized businesses. It has signed 60 clients to date and has partnered with truck fleet owners across five states.

The startup launched in September 2015, founded by Stanford grad Raghav Himatsingka, Duke University alum Keshav Himatsingka, and former Housing software developer Vipul Garg, who graduated from IIT-Delhi.

AbeRuk

A terrible thing to go to waste. Photo credit: umairadeeb.

In the market for used books? Bangalore-based AbeRuk, run by Quarto India Internet, might be able to help. The online curated marketplace has secured an undisclosed amount of angel funding from Hong Kong-based Swastika Company.

Founded in December 2015 by Sidharth Shankar and Sidharth Kumar, AbeRuk sprouted from Sidharth S.’s troubles when attempting to purchase old books at affordable prices. He found the world of online used books to be disorganized.

AbeRuk features used books in eight categories – educational and professional, entrance exams, literature and fiction, children and teen, comic and graphic novels, business and management, biographies and autobiographies, and history and politics. It also supplies on-demand books that are out of print. It claims to deliver across India, save a few areas in the northeast.

The startup charges a 10 to 12 percent margin on books sold through its site. Currently, over 50 wholesale book sellers from Bangalore and Delhi are on its platform. It is in talks to raise its next round of funding.

MyTaxiIndia