Blowhorn

Blowhorn is an intra-city logistics provider headquartered in Bengaluru, India. It was founded in 2014 and currently operates in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi NCR and Mumbai. The company connects customers with mini-truck drivers for intra-city, sub two-ton deliveries via its website and mobile app. In March 2017, Blowhorn secured series A round funding of Rs 25 crore from IDG Ventures India and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.[1]

For the portable or hand-held, cone-shaped acoustic horn used to amplify a person's voice or other sounds and direct it in a given direction, see Megaphone.

Blowhorn
Type of businessPrivate
Available inEnglish
FoundedJuly 2014 (2014-07)
HeadquartersBengaluru
Area servedIndia
Founder(s)Mithun Srivatsa, Nikhil Shivaprasad
Key people
  • Mithun Srivatsa (CEO)
  • Santosh Desai (CTO)
IndustryTransportation and Logistics
Services
Employees150 - 200
URLblowhorn.com
Current statusOnline
Native client(s) onAndroid, IOS

History

Blowhorn was co-founded by Mithun Srivatsa[2][3] and Nikhil Shivaprasad[4] who have collectively worked in the logistics and technology space for more than a decade. In 2014, they founded Blowhorn to address what they believed to be a grossly unorganized sector in India - the mini-truck drivers. The mini-truck transportation market in India is estimated to be between Rs 30,000 to 60,000 crore ($6.8 to 9.6 billion) annually.[4] The company has scaled to 160 employees and has aggregated 1.8 million mini-trucks in urban centres.

The company closed its series A round of venture capital funding in March 2017, raising Rs 25 crore ($3.65 million) from IDG Ventures India, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation[5] and existing investors Draper Associates and Unitus Seed Fund.[4] The funds will be used in expanding Blowhorn's operations to eight other cities in the next 24 months, namely Kolkata, Kanpur and Indore, while aggregating 25,000 active drivers on a daily basis.[1]

Blowhorn was the delivery partner for OnePlus mobile phones campaign in Bangalore wherein once the order for the handset placed through the Blowhorn mobile app was accepted, the handsets would be delivered to the customers within 60 minutes.[6][7][8] The company has also worked in partnership with Uber.[9]

Blowhorn has a customer service training program for its mini-truck drivers, aimed at unemployed youth in India.[10][4]

References
  1. Khan, Taslima (8 March 2017). "Logistics startup BlowHorn raises Rs 25 crore from IDG Ventures, Others". The Economic Times. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  2. "Blowhorn – moving goods in India made easy". Cambridge Network. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  3. Fok, Evelyn (8 July 2015). "Why Indian startups are signing up for Draper University of Heroes programme". The Economic Times. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  4. "Blowhorn | Unitus Seed Fund". Unitus Seed Fund. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  5. "Blowhorn: Driving employment opportunities through efficient online logistics-Michael & Susan Dell Foundation". Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  6. "OnePlus One smartphones delivered in 60 minutes or it's free". @businessline. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  7. "OnePlus offers phones for free if not delivered within one hour of ordering online". The Economic Times. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  8. "After pizzas, OnePlus brings '60 minutes or free' to smartphones". The Indian Express. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  9. "Blowhorn: Uber for Trucks in India". StartedIndia. 23 March 2017. Archived from the original on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  10. "Video: Blowhorn". Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
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