BlackBuck, an India-based freight services provider backed by e-commerce platform Flipkart, has closed a $150m series D round co-led by venture capital firm Accel and investment bank Goldman Sachs, TechCrunch reported yesterday.
Wellington Management, Sequoia Capital, B Capital, Light Street Capital, Sands Capital and the World Bank-owned International Finance Corporation (IFC) also took part in the round.
Goldman Sachs participated through its Investment Partners unit and the round valued BlackBuck at slightly less than $1bn.
Founded in 2015, BlackBuck has created an online freight aggregation platform that connects shippers with drivers who have excess space available in their trucks, using machine learning algorithms that take into account details such as the destination and the nature of the items to be transported.
The company’s network consists of some 300,000 drivers and more than 10,000 shippers. Truckers can also use the app to determine the most fuel-efficient routes, and BlackBuck partnered insurance provider Acko in November 2018 to provide cover for all the trucks in its network.
BlackBuck raised $36m of the series D funding last month, from Accel’s Growth unit and B Capital Asia’s Global BB SPV I fund and B Capital Asia I vehicle.
Goldman Sachs, Accel Growth, B Capital, Sequoia Capital, Sands Capital and IFC had already contributed to a $74.9m close as of March 2019.
The series D capital will allow BlackBuck to expand and improve its technology offering and to further grow its network of truckers. It will also offer approximately 200 employees an option to liquidate up to 25% of their vested shareholding at its current share price.
The company has now secured approximately $230m in equity funding and another $100m in debt financing, chief executive Rajesh Yabaj told TechCrunch. Flipkart most recently invested as part of a $70m series C round in 2017 alongside Sands Capital, which led the round, and IFC.
Flipkart had first participated in a $5m series A round led by Accel in 2015, before both returned later the same year for BlackBuck’s $25m series B, which also featured Tiger Global Management and Apoletto Asia.
