MUMBAI
:
Private equity firm Wellington Management is likely to lead a $100 million funding round in new-age intra-city logistics services provider Porter alongside other existing investors, three people familiar with the matter told Mint.
“The round is expected to value the startup between $1.2-1.4 billion and will be a mix of primary and secondary share sale,” one of the three people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.
Responding to Mint’s query, a Porter spokesperson said, “As per company policy, we do not respond to market speculations.” Wellington Management did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
To be sure, Wellington has made multiple bets on India’s logistics sector, including investments in online trucking platform Blackbuck and food delivery firm Swiggy, both of which went public last year. Some of its other investments in startups include Go Digit, Urban Company, and Policy Bazaar.
UK-based PE giant Apax Partners is also looking to invest in the company, according to a report by DealStreetAsia last month.
In November, Mint reported that Porter received terms sheets from investors such as Kedaara Capital, Multiples, and existing investor Peak XV. However, it was not immediately clear if some of these conversations with the new investors materialised due to Porter’s high valuation ask, the person said.
“The company is justifying a premium from its last round as it has been able to bring down its burn significantly while growing its revenues.”
The development comes after the company entered the unicorn club after completing an internal round, where individuals bought shares from the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) pool at a valuation of $1 billion last year.
To date, Porter has raised a total capital of $150 million from investors like Tiger Global, Peak XV Partners, the Mahindra Group and Lightrock, among others. It was last valued at $500 million in 2021 when it raised an external round by investors led by Tiger Global and Vitruvian Partners.
Expansion plans
Founded in 2014 by Uttam Digga, Pranav Goel, and Vikas Choudhary, Porter offers a logistics platform to help businesses with their last-mile delivery operations. The company is looking to double its domestic geographical presence in the next 3-4 years, even as it seeks to expand its international operations beyond Dubai, a market it entered in 2023.
Porter, which is currently present in about 22 cities, including 7-8 metro cities, is looking to expand to nearly 40 cities in the coming years, Digga told Mint in an interview last year. The company saw a 56% increase in revenue to more than ₹2,700 crore in FY24, with its losses shrinking 45% to ₹96 crore.
Around 10-15% of Porter’s revenue comes from newer initiatives, newer geographies, and 85% from mature businesses and geographies, according to Digga. The expansion to newer cities would lend tier-2 markets 10% more revenue share.
Meanwhile, the logistics sector in India is growing at an annual rate of 10–12%, contributing 14.4% to India’s GDP and employing more than 20 million people, according to a latest Grant Thornton Bharat report.
The intra-city logistics market in India is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 5% in the coming years. Some of the major companies in the Indian intra-city logistics market include FM Logistics India, Porter, Lets Transport, cityXfer, and Shadowfax.
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