India: Logitech startup Pando raises $9m funding led by Chiratae Ventures

Pando founders Abhijeet Manohar and Nitin Jayakrishnan ( L-R).

By Pramugdha Mamgain

January 13, 2020

Chennai-based networked logistics management software startup Pando has raised about 9 million (Rs 64 crores) in a Series A funding round led by Chiratae Ventures, it announced on Monday.

The round also saw participation from Siemens-backed Next47 and existing investor Nexus Venture Partners. Notable angel investors in this round include VMWare India MD Ramkumar Narayan, Indifi CEO Alok Mittal and Saikiran Krishnamurthy of xto10x Ventures.

With this funding round, the company has raised over Rs80 crore till date.

“This investment allows us to continue to reimagine the way freight networks operate. Pando has already delivered unprecedented value to large enterprises that have joined the network. We will continue to deepen our network offering in India while scaling in select strategic markets internationally, investing in technology and talent, and enhancing our transaction capabilities by working closely with our vendor-partners,” Pando co-founder and CEO Nitin Jayakrishnan said.

Founded by Jayakrishnan and Abhijeet Manohar in 2017, Pando helps global businesses like Britannia, Marico, Philips and Tata, automate and optimise their freight management, and connects them to logistics vendors and aggregators to enable seamless transactions.

“Global Logistics is going through a disruption, and large enterprises require a platform that can help them leverage these market changes to scale faster. Pando has helped shippers and transporters address this need through a full-stack solution,” TC Meenakshisundaram, founder MD, Chiratae Ventures said.

“India is a huge market with unique infrastructure challenges; this represents a promising opportunity for local startups. Pando’s platform has already attracted several high-profile customers and we are excited to partner with them to expand their reach,” added Lak Ananth, Managing Director, Next47.

Pando is Next47’s first investment in India. Next47 is a global venture firm backed by Siemens with offices in Bangalore, Beijing, London, Munich, Palo Alto, Paris, Stockholm, and Tel Aviv.

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In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
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