KB Investment Co., the venture capital unit of South Korea’s KB Financial Group, has invested $3 million in the Indian logistics management startup FarEye’s Series D financing round.
The Noida-based startup raised a total of $33 million at a valuation of about $95 million in its latest funding round led by Microsoft’s venture fund M12, according to industry sources on Tuesday.
Other participants include Eight Roads Ventures, the venture capital arm of U.S. investment giant Fidelity International; Honeywell Ventures, the investment unit of U.S. conglomerate Honeywell; and Fundamentum, India’s growth-capital fund for mid-stage tech companies.
The seven-year-old startup uses a predictive algorithm platform to help businesses orchestrate, track and optimize their logistics operation. Some of its major clients include Walmart, DHL, FedEx and Domino’s. The company today employs about 300 people and handles more than 10 million transactions a day. With a broad presence across India, Europe and the Middle East, it has clocked an annual recurring revenue of $10 million in the quarter ended December 2019, according to its website.
Investors see huge growth potential in FarEye, especially as the surge in online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic has increased the need for more advanced supply chain operations. The industry estimates the software as a service (SaaS) market related to logistics to expand from $30 billion in 2019 to $75 billion by 2022. In particular, the last-mile delivery part of the market is expected to grow from $2 billion in 2019 to more than $5 billion by 2023.
KB Investment, through its 220 billion won ($184.6 million) KB Global Platform Fund, has continued to broaden its investment reach, most recently backing Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing giant Grab.
“Our extensive global network has become a major driving force behind our global venture investment in the ‘untact’ economy,” a KB Investment official said. “We will continue building trust with major venture capital firms by taking part in joint investment.”
The so-called ‘untact’ economy is a new word coined by Korea that means non-face-to-face economic activities that take place mainly online.
By Kang Doo-soon and Kim Hyo-jin
[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]
