Logistics startup Porter has become the third unicorn this year, following an internal funding round where friends and family purchased shares directly from the company’s employee stock ownership plan, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Moneycontrol was the first to report the news, which said 15-20 individuals bought shares worth Rs 25 crore in the company, at a valuation of above $1 billion. Earlier this year, fintech firm Perfios and Ola’s AI venture Krutrim had turned unicorns. As per Tracxn, there were 113 unicorns in India as of earlier this month.
PeakXV-backed Porter’s earlier valuation was $514 million, after it raised $101 million in a Series E round from investors such as Tiger Global, Vitruvian Partners, Lightrock India and more. Till date, it has raised $150 million over nine rounds, according to Tracxn data.
The latest unicorn comes at a time when Indian startups are struggling with a slump in late-stage funding and a higher prevalence of down-rounds. Nearly 20% of the large venture capital deals in 2023 and till April this year has seen steep reduction in valuations, marking the highest share of down-rounds since 2015, according to data sourced from Pitchbook.
Porter declined to comment on the news. The company, founded by Pranav Goel, Uttam Digga and Vikas Choudhary, offers last-mile delivery services by providing light commercial vehicles. In FY23, Porter posted a 2x jump in its revenue from operations to Rs 1,753.8 crore, compared to Rs 848 crore during FY22, while losses widened by 43% to Rs 175 crore.