GoBOLT raises $20mn in funding from Paragon Partners, Aavishkaar Capital

Camions Logistics Solutions, which operates GoBOLT, on Monday said it has raised USD 20 million (about Rs 148.4 crore) in funding from Paragon Partners Growth Fund II and existing investor Aavishkaar Capital.

The series B round also includes small secondary components as well as debt lines from private banks, a statement said.

Sumeet Nindrajog, Co-Founder and Senior Partner from Paragon Partners, will be joining the Board of Directors, it added.

Established in 2015 by Naitik Baghla, Parag Aggarwal and Sumit Sharma, GoBOLT provides line haul express solutions to e-commerce and non e-commerce entities, and has achieved about 6X revenue growth over the last three years.

The company is expanding its offerings into SaaS-based solutions and E2E logistics solutions, helping its customers and partners to improve efficiencies, whilst aiding GoBOLT to expand its network coverage of lanes, transportation vendor partners and business segments it services, a statement said.

The current funding round will help GoBOLT in further scaling up its presence across industries, geographies, business segments and strengthening its technology platform, it added.

"Indian subcontinent is grappling with inefficiencies in the supply chain with logistics cost estimated to be around 14 per cent of GDP, substantially higher than US and Europe. Whilst our offering of express E2E logistics and SaaS based technology solutions are transformational, we will continue to invest in technology and leverage Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools to drive further efficiencies across the industry," Parag Aggarwal, CEO and co-founder of GoBOLT, said.

Sumeet Nindrajog, co-founder and Senior Partner at Paragon Partners, said GoBOLT is Paragon's first investment in the logistics sector across the two funds and is in line with its investment strategy of partnering with high-calibre entrepreneurs with compelling business models and assisting them in scaling up operations.

"With the introduction of GST and increasing modernisation of the highway network, the industry is experiencing a structural shift with strong tailwinds. Furthermore, COVID-19 has provided a fillip to the e-commerce industry and agile tech-led profitable players such as GoBOLT stand well placed to cater to the strong industry growth," he added.

The transaction advisors included Haitong as investment bankers, Alvarez& Marsal on commercial and financial diligence, PriceWaterHouseCoopers on ESG diligence. Shardul Amarch and Mangaldas, Khaitan & Company and Vertices Partners acted as legal advisors on the transaction.

Aavishkaar Capital Partner Ajay Maniar said with this fundraise, GoBOLT is well positioned to continue its rapid growth trajectory, whilst delivering significant impact to the larger logistics ecosystem of customers, vendor partners and drivers.