Porter, India’s leading tech-based, on-demand logistics company, has announced its first overseas expansion with entry to UAE, offering intra-city logistics services in Dubai. The development comes under the company’s current plan to explore the GCC regions and the Indian subcontinents. The logistics start-up, backed by some of the most renowned and active venture capital investors, including Tiger Global, Sequoia and Lighrock India, had raised USD 100 Million in Series E funding for expanding operations.
The company will provide a tech-enabled platform to ensure hassle-free deliveries through its LCVs and 2-wheelers, addressing the gap in intracity logistics requirements in the region for small package delivery requirements of both personnel and businesses. With over 20,000 + customers onboard, Porter plans to invest $6 million in UAE for the next three years. Additionally, the company is looking to bolster operations in these cities and further increase their customer acquisition by 2x to 40,000+ and vehicle base by 3.2x to 800+ by March 2024.
Porter offers cost-effective solutions that can help improve lower vehicle utilisation, increase the system’s competence, and ensure the availability of appropriate vehicles for customer requirements. This will also result in efficient intracity logistics, lower customer rates, and more earnings for driver-partners. The company has 300+ LCVs on the platform and recently introduced 15 two-wheelers to expand its regional operations.
Pranav Goel, CEO & Co-Founder, Porter said, “We are thrilled to enter UAE as our first overseas market. Dubai is a global business hub that acts as an excellent facilitator for organisations that aim to establish their regional footprint. We are thankful for all the business-friendly policies and infrastructure the region offers, and we expect to scale our business exponentially in the market. We plan to invest USD 50 million in international expansion over the next five years. The expansion in UAE will catalyse the holistic growth of the intra-city logistics ecosystem globally while also benefitting the local economy. We at Porter are also actively focusing on generating employment opportunities for driver-partners and offering economical and efficient solutions backed by technology to the customers.”
“We are happy with our platform’s response, and our learnings from the Indian market will help us accelerate our growth in the UAE. Our model helps to bring efficiency into the system by addressing issues such as lower utilisation of vehicles, unavailability of the right vehicle type and high cost for customers. This expansion should help provide a logistics solution for businesses and offer consumers direct control over their deliveries,” said Ankit Dwivedi, AVP – International Business, Porter.
In April, during the holy month of Ramadan, Porter pledged to positively impact the community by contributing iftar meals and clothes with every delivery. With this, Porter aimed to help those in need by providing a healthy and fulfilling meal at the end of a long day of fasting.
The company looks forward to tapping more potential opportunities in the intra-city logistics segment to scale its business.