LocoNav, A Fleet Software Startup Raises $37 Million

LocoNav, an Indian startup that develops fleet management software, has raised $37 million in a Series B. It has plans on targeting twelve developing countries allowing vehicles to run more efficiently and cost-effectively. 

The startup which is just five years old was funded by Quiet Capital, Anthemis Group, Foundamental, Sequoia Capital India, RIT Capital Partners, Uncorrelated Ventures, Village Global and others. Overall, this means the startup has raised $47 million. 

It has offices in Gurgaon which is a suburb near Delhi and even San Francisco. Apart from the venture capital firms, it also counts ex-Google VP for product Anjali Joshi, ex-Facebook and Snapdeal executive, Anand Chandrasekaran, Jai Shekhawat, Mark Lichy, Akhil Paul, Manik Gupta, the ex-Uber chief product officer, amongst other famed tech personalities who have participated in this round which gives credibility to this startup. 

It is India's largest fleet management platform

LocoNav and its technology is already is being used in 25 countries with over half a million vehicles deployed using its software. It uses AI to manage fleet operations to keep an eye on the performance and improve the efficiency of the vehicles. 

Most of LocoNav's peers are operating in developed markets which gives it an advantage, at least, so its founders believe. 

"In global developing markets, no one has ambitiously built a large player and we see ourselves as the first mover there," said co-founder Shridhar Gupta in an interview with TechCrunch. 

"LocoNav has built an end-to-end product that becomes deeply embedded in how fleet owners and operators run their business. As a result, LocoNav has been able to scale rapidly through word of mouth, allowing the company to become a hyper-growth market leader while also being very capital efficient," said David Greenbaum, Partner at Quiet Capital, in a statement.

LocoNav has plans on having data science teams in San Francisco, Bangalore and Gurgaon. In the next two years, it has plans to expand its product portfolio enabling fleet owners to cut costs by 50 per cent. 

"Shridhar and Vidit (Jain) have found the ideal playbook for delivering world-class value-added services and products to fleet owners across the globe through the use of AI and software solutions. We are thrilled at how rapidly the firm has been able to expand its global footprint by replicating its own model and suite of offerings for fleet owners," said Shubhankar Bhattacharya, General Partner at Foundamental, in a statement.