Logistics startup Locad raises $11 million in Series A funding led by Reefknot Investments

Locad, a logistics startup, announced on Monday that it has raised $11 million in Series A funding to expand its supply chain platform. Reefknot Investments, a fund led by Temasek and logistics firm Kuehne & Nagel, led the round.

The series A funding round also saw participation from returning investors Sequoia India and Southeast Asia's Surge, Febe Ventures, Antler, as well as new investors Access Ventures, JG Summit, and WTI.

Singapore-headquartered Locad provides a cloud supply chain for Asia-Pacific brands to store, pack, ship, and track orders for e-commerce and omnichannel retail through a tech platform connecting a network of warehouses and shipping partners. The $11 million will be used towards boosting the company’s product development and talent pool in India and across Asia-Pacific, the company said in a statement.

“Locad’s unique operating model of localising warehouses into the cities ensures that inventory is kept close to the customers thereby enabling significant cost and time savings for both brand and consumer. We believe that Locad’s logistics engine will spur greater participation in the digital economy as consumers outside of Tier-1 cities can now receive their orders 2-3x faster at a fraction of the usual cost,” Ervin Lim, vice president of Reefknot Investments said.

Locad says it has served over 200 brands across the Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Australia, and shipped more than 2 million transactions. The company’s logistics engine supports brands such as Levi’s, Reckitt Benckiser, and Emma Sleep in the region, while also expanding access to logistics infrastructure to growing D2C and mid-market merchants.

“Omnichannel commerce demands a powerful logistics infrastructure in order to succeed. And that infrastructure is not only made of an interconnected network of warehouses and shipping carriers but also the precise data that reflects the movement of goods in that supply chain,” Locad CTO and co-founder Shrey Jain said.

“Tech and data are at the heart of what we’re building here at Locad. To realise this, we’re doubling down on our hiring efforts in key locations such as Bangalore where we have a strong team of developers and marketers helping grow the product and business end-to-end,” Jain added.

The firm is adding warehouses, partnering with transport operators, and hiring talent for their Bangalore office, Locad’s statement said