CHENNAI: When you order something online — be it clothes, food or any other essentials — it is always reassuring to track the order. The same applies to large corporations to plan their inventory accordingly.
FourKites is a Chennai-based end-to-end supply chain visibility solutions provider. It was founded in 2014 by Chief Executive Officer, Mathew Elenjickal and co-founder Arun Chandrasekharan, the Chief Technology Officer who realised that there was a desperate need for visibility to locate a product along the supply chain so that companies could prepare better and thus, maximise business.
“Bad forecasting led to large companies losing out on a lot of business,” said Neeraj Sharma- Senior Director of Human Resources. “For instance, during a Black Friday sale, due to delays they may have been short of stock. We help companies with load tracking and tell them why there is a delay if it is the weather, traffic or something else. Earlier, it was all done manually. This is a fully automated system that is nearly 100% accurate.”
He said that as part of its innovation, the company has also introduced temperature tracking for perishable goods like dairy products or fruits.
The platform provides real-time visibility and execution for Fortune 500 companies and third-party logistics firms. Some of their clients include giants like Unilever, Walmart, Nestle, Cargill, Pfizer, Perdue, Kraft Heinz and many more. Using a proprietary algorithm to calculate shipment arrival times, FourKites enables customers to lower operating costs, improve on-time performance, and strengthen end-customer relationships. With a network of more than four million GPS/ELD devices, FourKites covers all modes including ocean, rail, parcel and over-the-road. The platform is optimised for mobile and equipped with market-leading end-to-end security.
“We started off small with only 15-20 clients in the first two years and went on to add 58 more clients or ‘logos’ as we call it in 2017, 60 in 2018 and are looking to take that forward to 108 logos this year,” Neeraj said. “Our clients are mainly in North America but we are looking to expand to other countries soon. We do not service any Indian clients right now as our technology is priced at a premium and requires a certain infrastructural support that is more suited for larger multinational corporations. India and China are major explosion markets and we will start working in the Indian market in a couple of years.”
FourKites consists of a team of 200 people in India and 150 people in the US. There are about 30-40 core engineers who along with the team of developers and operations professionals innovate incloud solutions, data science, predictive capabilities, and integrations for customers. Recently, the company was recognised as a ‘Great Place to Work’ among start-ups in India.
In a nutshell
FourKites is an end-to-end supply chain visibility platform that major global companies use to track and manage their freight.
Founded in 2014 by Mathew Elejickal
Funding Status: Late Stage Venture
Last Funding Type: Series C
Total Funding Amount: $101.5 million
Number of Employees: 350