Microsoft-backed Indian startup FarEye gets $3 mn investment from KB Investment

The seven-year-old startup uses a predictive algorithm platform to help businesses orchestrate, track, and optimize their logistics operation. Walmart, DHL, FedEx, and Domino’s are among its major clients.

South Korea’s KB Financial Group’s venture capital unit KB Investment Co., has invested $3 million in the Indian logistics management startup FarEye’s Series D financing round.

According to sources, 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.

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. Walmart, DHL, FedEx, and Domino’s are among its major clients.

The company as of now employs about 300 people, handling more than 10 million transactions a day. According to its website, it has clocked an annual recurring revenue of $10 million in the quarter ended December 2019, with a broad presence across India, Europe and the Middle East.

Investors see huge growth potential in FarEye, especially as the surge in online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic, 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.

“Our extensive global network has become a major driving force behind our global venture investment in the ‘untact’ economy. We will continue building trust with major venture capital firms by taking part in joint investment” a KB Investment official said.

‘Untact’ economy is a new word coined by Korea meaning non-face-to-face economic activities that take place mainly online.

KB Investment, through its 220 billion won ($184.6 million) KB Global Platform Fund and has continued to broaden its investment reach, most recently backing Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing giant Grab.