Supply chain and logistics management are often underappreciated but important features of a successful business – and where technology and digitalization are making a big difference. Inadequate product communication, tracking, and traceability can lead to wasted time, unnecessary billable hours, and lost revenue. However, technology can provide better transparency and accountability.
GoBOLT, a Gurugram-based technology startup, was created in late 2015, to solve major inefficiencies in large logistics providers in India. The company's three founders – Sumit Sharma, Naitik Baghlaall, Parag Aggarwal – come from corporate backgrounds, having worked at organizations such as Ernst & Young, GSK, JM Financial and Tata Motors.
The idea for GoBOLT came about when Sharma visited North America and, during his travels, noticed the high rate of transportation and trucks on the highways in the US and Canada. He started researching the transport industry in India.
“The Indian logistics industry is worth $200 billion,” he shared. It is a huge sector with tremendous potential and opportunities. What's more: “Almost 70% of the market is fragmented, including small cargo operators that have (only) one to five trucks. They depend on local agents to get freight on a daily basis.”
Sharma also learned that the industry's reliance on brokers often created problems for small freight operators, increasing costs and providing little benefit in return. Part of the reason for this was the lack of digital records or the use of technology to ensure clear and traceable communications and transactions. There was also a lack of market visibility, which generally led to lower than expected asset utilization and weak revenues.
Furthermore, the logistics sector appeared to be plagued by a lack of professionalism, which was evidenced by complaints of poor customer service.
All these factors have resulted in India's logistics usage accounting for 13% of GDP, which may seem reasonable. However, the most efficient economies spend only around six to eight percent of their GDP on logistics, with better returns on these investments.
Sharma and his team at GoBOLT believed that such inefficiencies were simple enough to correct in the logistics industry, provided they had access to the right technology. For GoBOLT, this meant incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning-based technologies to better maintain and track a company's supply chain.
“Thus, we offer technological and logistical solutions in supply chain management, from ‘design to delivery’, including transportation, storage and supply chain planning,” explained Sharma. A BTech graduate from Delhi College of Engineering, with an MBA from SP Jain, Mumbai, Sharma started his career with Ernst & Young and later moved to JM Financial. He is now responsible for investment, business development and marketing at GoBOLT.
Sharma is also a member of FICCI's core group for advancing a 'Roadmap for Decarbonization of Transport Sector in India by 2050'. FICCI provides a voice for Indian business and industry that supports positive policy change.
GoBOLT's goal is to provide transportation, storage and supply chain technology solutions for companies across all types of industries. They work across India, focusing on the North, South and West passes of India. Your exposure to industry type ranges from FMCG, e-commerce, alcoholic beverages, tire manufacturing, movable goods and waste management companies.
The Launchpad advantage
At the core of the services offered by GoBOLT is a SaaS-based logistics management method called Launchpad. The product is a logistics platform designed to achieve high asset utilization, efficiency and scale without unnecessary costs.
Its first client was one of the largest footwear, clothing and accessories manufacturers, which was looking for a freight forwarder for its facilities in Uttarakhand.
“We took advantage of this opportunity and after a month of research into the factory and the transportation business, (we created) an effective solution, which reduced the logistics cost by 10%,” said Sharma. “We got the first contract, the original truck on the GoBOLT platform was transferred from Dehradun to Delhi NCR.”
GoBOLT routinely competes with companies like Lobb and FreightBro.
“We strongly differentiate ourselves from our competitors through the use of technology and a disruptive business model”, he shared. “We created a cloud-based solution with a modular structure – where several modules manage various entities and operations in the system, such as customer administration, marketplace department (brokers, market vehicles, drivers, etc.), our fleet and driver management . , travel management, hub management, financial management, etc.”
The founders first started the business with less than Rs 50 lakh. GoBOLT then raised Rs 40 million from Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group's Aavishkaar Bharat Fund in September 2018.
Today, GoBOLT has over 40 customers with an annualized run rate of Rs 250 million. Its business model is to work on a per-charge basis with customers whenever the company's latest technology service is used: the new Launchpad app.
However, getting customers to use the app proved more challenging than GoBOLT initially anticipated.
“We launched the customer mobile app as well as the carrier/supplier mobile app. Getting transporters and drivers to start using the technology was a difficult task,” admitted Sharma. “Yet, slowly and steadily, we have gained deep technological penetration in the industry and reaped the benefits of data flow.”
As far as direct plans are concerned, the startup wants to increase its presence in India. It also has big plans to triple its revenue in the next 18 months.
