Reliance Venture invests in logistics company

Source: ET Fri 26 Mar 2010 12:54 PM IST  

Reliance Venture Asset Management, an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group 
(ADAG) enterprise, said it has successfully completed the first  
round of venture funding in Reverse Logistics, a technology 
enabled end-to-end reverse supply-chain solutions company.

This is in line with Reliance Venture’s recent rebranding and widening focus on investing in disruptive and sustainable business models with a sector-agnostic philosophy, the company said in a press release issued here today. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo are co-investors in this round of funding in Reverse Logistics along with Reliance Venture Asset Management. The release did not, however, mention the amount of funding but it is understood that the total investment done by all the investors is between Rs 35-40-crore.

Founded in 2008, Reverse Logistics uses its proprietary technology to help its customers reduce supply-chain costs by over 25%, increase asset recovery by over 100%, improve productivity by over 10%, and get a 100% customer satisfaction while growing profitability exponentially, the release said.

Reliance Venture Asset Management’s CEO, Harshal J Shah, said, “the reverse logistics space is a fairly untapped but promising sector and will revolutionise efficiency levels of the fragmented Indian supply chain.”

“As an opportunistic investor, we see an immense potential in the industry...Reverse Logistics with its expert management backing will clearly contribute to the India growth story and compete with global compatriots and we are excited to partner them,” Shah said.

Reverse logistics refers to the backward supply-chain network where a product moves from the end-consumer to the manufacturer for re-use, disposal or surplus sale purposes with the rationale to increase overall efficiencies. In developed countries, the reverse supply-chain management is outsourced and focused to increase the overall shareholder value.

However, India is still near the bottom when it comes to supply-chain efficiencies. Estimates suggest that 3% of its GDP is lost to supply-chain inefficiencies and low compliance with the government’s e-waste regulations, the release said. Hence, with its growing importance, Indian companies are now looking to manage this network as a strategic and critical business area, the release said, adding that according to market studies, the Indian reverse logistics industry is pegged at $10-15 billion.