Technology enabled solution for intra-city logistics
On a daily basis, more than 50 million SMEs spends approximately 30 percent of their time to find the right cargo transporter. And with 18 lakh small commercial vehicles completing millions of transactions daily, the opportunity for a marketplace like SmartShift is enormous
By Ankush Kumar
Launched in October 2015 in Mumbai, SmartShift is the first digital mobility startup incubated by the US $17.8 billion Mahindra Group. It is essentially a technology enabled marketplace for intra-city logistics that enables cargo owners to find the right transporters based on the shipment size, weight, and other requirements. The service can be accessed through the Android mobile application, website and dedicated call centre.
During his tenure as DGM of Strategy for Automotive Business (Mahindra), Kausalya Nandakumar, currently the CEO of SmartShift along with a small band of fellow entrepreneurs came together to work on understanding the ecosystem of small commercial vehicles and SME’s who use these vehicles for their cargo transport. After 2000+ hours of insighting, mapping several industry’s supply chain end-to-end, it was fairly obvious to the team that the answer lay beyond the supply of vehicles. A suitable solution was required for the entire delivery process so that the customer is assured and could solely focus on growing his business. That was the time when SmartShift was born and helped businesses to grow.
The sheer size of logistics industry is quite astronomical, says Nandakumar. “It is pegged at $130 billion and we estimate that around 35 percent to 40 percent ($50 bn) will largely be in the intra city space. On a daily basis, more than 50 million SMEs spends approximately 30 percent of their time to find the right cargo transporter. And with 18 lakh small commercial vehicles completing millions of transactions daily, the opportunity for a marketplace like SmartShift is enormous.”
The company received its initial seed funding from the Mahindra Group. The fund will however will be used till it goes for a Series A.
SmartShift follow a prepaid commission model wherein, the transporters need to deposit a minimum balance in a wallet for them to get clients using the platform. “We have seen that the majority of our transporters has willingly deposited high amounts on the wallet for that enables them to get high-ticket transactions. We charge commission from drivers for each successful transaction,” informs Nandakumar.
Nandkumar further added that the company has received positive response in both Mumbai & Hyderabad on the product and its features. Its traction has been in line with its overall growth plan. “Within 9 months of operation, we have seen over 1500 customers using our platform and registration of more than 1000 transporters. Our daily app downloads are on a rise, and we have been successfully able to save for each of our customers, on an average, 25 percent of his daily spend on logistics. The going is good, and we aim to be the largest player in the intra-city transport across all cities.”
The company promises to provide a continuous value proposition for its stakeholders across the country by improving their efficiency & productivity, while actively solving real problems of its customers through technology. This year, its has tied up with various partners that have added value to its customers. Some of the names include the like of Lendingkart, who provides collateral free loans to business owners; MIBL – to provide discounts on vehicle insurance and IOCL to provide fuel incentives to transporters, and many others. “In the near future, we shall also bring on board more such value creators who will enable our stakeholders to lift their business. Over the next two years, we plan to expand our presence to over 1000+ pin codes across India’s metros & other Tier One cities. By 2018, we shall touch the lives of more than half a million stakeholders, i.e. both transport partners & load owners,” asserts Nandakumar.
