Supply Chain is one of the biggest sectors in the country. It employs millions of people, and a list of supply chain startups in India are changing the way logistics is carried out in the country.
What is Supply Chain?
Simply put, supply chain refers to managing how things (goods and services) get moved from one place to another – everything from food and medicines to transporting wood, the process used to achieve this is called supply chain.
Supply chain is a very process in any products and services company. When managed well, it skyrockets your profits. Supply chain covers everything from product development and sourcing to production and procurement, as well as logistics. Manufacturing sites, transportation from warehouses and inventory management as well as order fulfillment – all of them come under supply chain, so you get an idea of how big the industry is.
Read More: You can read more about the importance of supply chain in maintaining customer retention rates in businesses by clicking here,
Why is Supply Chain Management so important?
Supply Chain Network Structure
Supply chain extends to several industries and across multiple disciplines. So any innovation in this sector will benefit every other sector, thereby bringing in a lot of growth. Needless to say, this is why a lot of companies are willing to invest in supply chain startups, because they make life easier for everyone.
Job Creation
With the lifting of travel restrictions in the country, India is looking at a sharp growth in the logistics sector. With a close to $500 million USD in funding provided to numerous startups by several investors, we’re looking at a staggering increase in openings in the supply chain industry in 2021 going well into 2022.
Supply Chain Software and Technology
There are a lot of systems which have been adopted to monitor stocks – from barcoding for iot devices to track the location of moving inventory. This is where software solutions and the role of IT in the supply chain comes in. Supply chain solutions help managers and employers manage their inventory remotely, stay in control over their data and manage resources more efficiently than before.
Security and Protection
Supply chain is crucial in military and defence, where delays of even a few minutes can prove fatal. Prompt delivery while not compromising on quality and safety of the commodity is something no country can overlook.
There are many such reasons why supply chain is one of the most important sectors in business, regardless of the industry. Fulfilling these demands takes a lot of effort, and some clever business models. Here is a list of supply chain companies in India that are doing extraordinarily well despite the given circumstances, and are only expected to grow further in the coming years.
Supply Chain Startups in India
Delhivery
Delhivery was founded in the year 2011, and is one of the leading supply chain services in India. It is a logistics and trucking startup located in Gurgaon, often referred to as the last mile delivery startup company, because it has the vision of becoming a sort of unofficial operating system for India.
Delhivery ensures fast, secure delivery of commerce products. According to their website, they have completed over 340 million orders for a total of 50 million households all over India till date. Founders Bhavesh Manglani, Kapil Bharati, Mohit Tandon, Sahil Barua, and Suraj Saharan are super proud of the growth of the company, and are hopeful of a similar future.
Blackbuck
Blackbuck is the most recent company in a host of Indian-brewn startups that became a unicorn. The startup was founded in 2015, and with the combined power of data science and logistics, it easily gained the title of the smartest supply chain system in the country. Blackbuck is one of the biggest pioneers in India to bring the offline operations of tracking and conversion online, minus the inconveniences.
The main goal of the company is to make life easier for trackers by allowing them to book the load and move capacity while also enabling all shippers to access the truck with just the click of a button. The company has raised a total of close to $200 million USD over six rounds of funding. The founders are Chanakya Hridaya, Rajesh yabaji, and Rama Subramaniam.
Rivigo
Rivigo is also one of the fastest growing logistics startups in India. Founded in 2014, the main goal of the company is to make logistics more human. Founders Deepak Garg and Gazal Kalra, while trying to make logistics human, faster, safer, and cost-effective, stumbled across the plight of drivers. The result was Rivigo – a logistics company that cares.
Rivigo provides services to industries such as eCommerce and automotive manufacturers, FMCG and many more. The company has raised over 216 million US dollars in a total of 6 rounds of funding. It uses a relay as a service (RaaS) business model in order to maximise driver comfort and efficiency, while also ensuring prompt delivery. GrowthInsights has a terrific article on Rivigo’s business model, so you know where to go to find out more about RaaS and Rivigo.
Edgistify
Edgistify is one of India’s fastest developing end-to-end logistics startups. Founded in 2016 in Mumbai, it is perhaps the country’s most trusted Direct2Consumer delivery partner.
Everyone knows that a manufacturer needs a warehouse to store their assets, with as little hassle as possible in the present as well as far into the future. And if you’re a manufacturer, you know how difficult that task is. Edgistify solves this problem. The company helps you find the best warehouse in India. Period.
Edgistify will also provide you with a variety of services including verifying warehouses by inspecting them and making the details available for users to verify and make an informed decision. According to its official website, Edgistify has provided a data Bank of more than 560 million square feet of warehousing space. Pretty impressive number, really.
First Flight
First Flight is probably one of the oldest logistics companies in the country. It was started in 1988, and provides services like priority couriers, e-commerce logistics, air cargo, and train cargo. The company has partnered with Jabong, Myntra, Paytm and many other e-commerce companies.
First Flight is India’s first domestic courier service company which is in the process of setting up the integrated logistic division in order to provide customers with warehousing as well as inventory management and supply chain services, to all the distribution channels possible.
Shift Karado
Shift Karado was launched in the year 2015 with the main aim of providing solutions to the many different issues pertaining to relocation of industries. It is also a tech-driven company, involved majorly in packing and moving services to several providers across India. It has its competition in the unorganised relocation market, but overshadows most of them in helping make the movement process simple for its customers. The company is located in Gurgaon and the founder of the company is Atul Mithal.
4tigo
Founded by Vivek Malhotra and Anjani Mandal in the year 2015, 4tigo is a trucking technology and services platform based out of Bangalore. It is one of the most efficient supply chain startups in Bangalore. 4tigo aims to provide the goods transportation industry with a growth boost, usually with the help of synergy technology and networking. The company has raised a total of $10 million USD till date, and is really one of the most overlooked startups in this category.
How does supply chain affect business?
Supply chain management is a different kind of systematic approach used to manage everything related to the distribution of goods – from the production of raw materials through the manufacture and the final delivery to end users. Supply chain management has a great effect on manufacturing companies in numerous ways, like we mentioned at the start of this article. The availability of inputs needed for production processes, the cost as well as the profits from the manufactured items, the company’s infrastructure – everything needs supply chain as one of the pillars of effective functioning.
This is precisely why there are several studies on supply chain management and how it affects the manufacturers from both perspectives – that of a manufacturer/employer, and that of a user/customer. Many companies look to improve this side of their business more often than any other side, because this directly impacts customer experience. And that is why, supply chain management is also a great field to study and be a part of.
Closing Thoughts
When you have an efficient management of the supply chain – in any business – it will reduce the cost, maximize customer value delivery, and the competitive advantage that you have. It will also provide you with effective coordination and the control of linked sectors, departments, systems, and organisations. That is how these supply chain startups we mentioned earlier provide value. They take care of all this boring stuff, so your business can focus on the more product-oriented work.
