India's famous digital freight forwarder "Freightwalla" has ceased all business operations, becoming one of a number of failed start-ups, according to industry sources. The company is currently closed and all employees have been laid off.
Mumbai-based Freightwalla was founded in 2016 by a team of three up-and-coming tech entrepreneurs, with founder and CEO Sanjay Bhatia as the industry's face. The company was once one of the top 10 freight forwarding startups in the Asia-Pacific region.
"founders have been looking for merger opportunities, but failed, and then they are no longer willing to inject their own capital," a source said. "They can't find any new investors either."
sources said it was a Singapore-based technology company that failed in the acquisition. Talks to sell the logistics start-up to a local fintech platform called CredAble also reportedly broke down, despite some progress.
A Freightwalla middle manager at, who asked not to be named, said indignantly that the company's management had not provided any "official" reasons for the closure. "Many of us don't even get severance pay," the manager complained.
Freightwalla announced on its website that it has obtained a Series A financing of US $4 million to provide services to more than 2000 customers and 10000 ports through partnerships with more than 40 countries and preferential contractual arrangements with more than 60 shipping companies. One tech industry observer noted that the fate of the Freightwalla, due to the uncertain situation in the freight market, once again shows that investors are starting to become more cautious when it comes to financing start-ups. As a one-stop digital solution provider, Freightwalla has challenged the traditional freight forwarding business model based on relationships and opaque business methods, and has become the focus of the industry. Including other Indian companies such as Shipwaves, Freightbro, FreightCrate and Cogoport, following in the footsteps of global freight digital pioneers Freightos and Flexport, price transparency and freight visualization have been the core selling points of these logistics technology start-ups.
but sources say most companies are struggling because of funding challenges. Meanwhile, Allcargo Group, the parent company of Indian logistics giant and global LCL hub ECU Worldwide, denied reports that it had made any market efforts to sell its express logistics unit Gati. delivery, a fast-growing e-commerce logistics platform based in Delhi, is also rumored to be bidding for Gati.
"The company is not in discussions with anyone regarding such a sale," Allcargo said in a statement." "Gati remains an important and integral part of the Allcargo Group and we will continue to focus on strengthening the Group's position in the fast-growing express logistics business segment," the company said
Founded in 2016, Freightwalla is an India-based international freight forwarding company that helps customers manage their supply chains through online tools, including instant shipping quotes. The digital freight logistics startup works with companies across multiple industries, including manufactured goods such as toys, household goods, textiles, agricultural products and packaged food. The company provides cross-sea transportation, domestic and foreign inland freight, customs clearance, warehousing, air freight and other freight management services, combined with the most advanced analysis, automation and logistics technology to solve the problem of inefficiency in international cargo transportation.
According to foreign media, in 2019, the Indian logistics technology start-up company Freightwalla announced the completion of a $4 million round of financing, with investors including Amplo, FJ Labs and Rogue One Capital.
according to the company's co-founder and CEO Sanjay Bhatia revealed at the time that they plan to use this latest funding for geographic expansion and technology infrastructure improvements. In addition to Sanjay Bhatia, the other two co-founders are supply chain management executive Bharat Thanvi and former Amazon and Microsoft executive Punit Java.
The company provides an online platform for businesses to plan, book and manage international shipments. By providing technical support for freight forwarding services, the company hopes to provide customers with a good experience at every step of the process, from planning shipments to automating document workflows to providing critical advice to customers' operations. The company claims that their solution can reduce the time it takes to plan shipments by 80% while saving customers an average of 20% on shipping costs.
Source: Ningbo Shipping