An online market place for logistics!
Web-based business platforms is the talk of the town. Start-ups like GoComet are entering into the market with fresh idea and approach to make logistics simpler, or atleast that is what they aim at!
The magnetism of India’s online marketplace is so much that even czar of brick and mortar stores Kishore Biyani who was some years ago an ardent critic of online selling has softened his stand on the potential. There is rarely any sector which has not been touched by web-based platform, and it was just a matter of time till the fever got to the logistics sector. The latest entrant is GoComet, founded in 2016 by four engineers from IIT-Delhi. The company grabbed the headlines for raising multiple rounds of funding from PEs even at time when fresh funding have dried up.
The company claims to be first-ofits- kind marketplace for international freight services, offering a platform for international B2B freight service providers and clients, to manage everything from booking containers to tracking and Custom clearances, all from a single dashboard. It also takes the responsibility to manage all paperwork to ensure seamless end-to-end cargo delivery internationally. It has no hidden charges and a tech-enabled system to move, track and manage cargo.
What new it has!
Highlighting its key differentiator Gautam Prem Jain, Director and Cofounder, GoComet says the company works on solving two major difficulties for exim, that are competitive price, and technology to leverage. It has got more than 200 freight forwarders on board to choose from by shippers, providing a comparison based competitive rate.
One of the reasons why logistics sector despite being opened for 100 per cent FDI has very limited entry from outsiders is because of the complexity of the supply chain model, and personal and professional relations play a key role in sealing a deal. However, Jain claims that the market reaction has been very positive, and a major reason was the platform helps freight forwarders in getting new business, apart from an array of services with varying costs to its clients. Multiple shipping lines are also listed on the website priced as per the rates of the forwarders providing them, and shippers can view them in real time, and can negotiate further and create auctions, and once satisfied, the shipment can be booked directly.
Time & cost benefit
The platform claims to help shippers save costs by empowering them to negotiate dynamically with a larger pool of forwarders. Moreover, it saves time by creating RFQs, comparing quotations, and booking shipments. Automatic negotiation comes into effect due to reverse auction, which reduces effort. The client also gets a wider range of services to choose from, in terms of detention free times, transit times, and better routing options.
Partnership model
The service providers submit their quotations and service levels on the Web platform which can be reviewed by shippers. After GoComet enables a transaction, the service providers take up the operational responsibility of the shipments. The online platform facilitates basic service level agreements between shippers and service providers, in a way that both of their interests are protected. “Most of the service providers on our platform are the ones referred to us by our large customers. The list of existing customers of a logistics service provider along with their reliability is extremely important factor for choosing a partner,” explains Jain.
Investment
The company has aggregated an investment of $300,000 from India Quotient, Angel investor Rajul Garg, the founders of Blackbuck, and others. The company primarily operates in the China-India-gulf route, and the geographical target base is Maharashtra and Gujarat. The company although claims to have the capability to handle all types of products, but its strength lie in dealing with plastics, engineering goods and pharmaceutical products, and it aims to expand to other types of products in these sectors in order to scale up.
