BlackBuck enters unicorn club with $67 Mn Series E round

Surface logistics company BlackBuck has raised $67 million in its Series E round led by Tribe Capital, IFC Emerging Asia Fund and VEF. Existing investors Wellington Management, Sands Capital, and International Finance Corporation also participated in it.

According to BlackBuck, it has raised the fresh round at a post-money valuation of $1.02 billion. After Rivigo, it has become the second unicorn in the space and overall third in the logistics sector, including Delhivery.

Unlike other startups that have turned unicorns in 2021, this is a marginal surge in the company’s valuation which was valued at around $950 million in April 2019.

The proceeds will be used by BlackBuck to expand and launch new services and for scaling its financial services and insurance offerings through partnerships, said the company in a press release.

BlackBuck focuses on B2B logistics solutions for long-haul trucking and provides intercity logistics services to large companies, small and medium enterprises across minerals, fast-moving consumer goods and other categories. Its customers include Hindustan Unilever, Tata Group, Coca Cola and Asian Paints.

The company claims to have a network of over 700,000 truckers and operates 1.2 million trucks across India. According to the company, it witnesses over 15 million monthly transactions on its platform. 

Backed by the likes of Sequoia, Accel, Goldman Sachs and B Capital, BlackBuck has raised over $350 million across equity and debt rounds to date.

The logistics sector, especially trucking businesses, was severely disrupted due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown imposed in several parts of the country. In April 2020, BlackBuck laid off over 200 employees who were working in customer experience and operations and was expecting to let go of more employees as its businesses were highly impacted due to the pandemic. However, there were no reports of laying off employees during the second wave.