Indian logisitics management startup Pando raises $9m

Indian logistics management software provider Pando has banked about US$9 million in a series A round led by local VC firm Chiratae Ventures, pushing its total capital raised to roughly US$11.3 million.

Pando co-founder and CEO Nitin Jayakrishnan / Photo credit: Pando

Siemens-backed Next47, alongside existing investor Nexus Venture Partners, participated in the round, according to a statement. Angel investors including VMware India’s managing site director Ramkumar Narayanan, Indifi CEO Alok Mittal, and Xto10x Ventures co-founder and CEO Saikiran Krishnamurthy have also backed the startup.

Pando plans to use the fresh funds to further widen its network offering in India, scale in strategic markets globally, make new hires, and invest further in its technology, Pando co-founder and CEO Nitin Jayakrishnan said in a statement.

Founded in 2017, the startup helps businesses across various industries automate and optimize their freight management, providing them with connections to logistics vendors and aggregators. Some of the global companies that have been using the startup’s services include Britannia, Marico, Philips, and Tata.

“India is a huge market with unique infrastructure challenges. This represents a promising opportunity for local startups,” said Next47 managing director Lak Ananth.

Next47 is a global VC firm formed by German multinational conglomerate Siemens. It has offices in Bangalore, Beijing, London, Munich, Palo Alto, Paris, Stockholm, and Tel Aviv. The company’s participation in Pando’s series A raise marks its first investment in India, according to the statement.

Prior to this round, Next47 has mainly been investing in companies based out of the US and Israel.