Bertelsmann Acquires LetsTransport To Operate It Under Its Buy-and-Build Unit

German venture capital (VC) firm Bertelsmann Investments (BI) has acquired a majority stake, 80% to be precise, in its portfolio truck aggregator startup LetsTransport, with an intent to build and scale the startup as its first India based majority-owned, founder-led operating business. The firm didn’t disclose the size of the deal.

In a statement, BII said that the deal would allow it to support LetsTransport by providing them access to long-term capital and governance support, as well as enabling access to Bertelsmann’s global network.

With the deal, LetsTransport will become a part of Bertelsmann Next growth unit of BI. This marks the launch of Bertelsmann’s acquisition-oriented investment arm, Bertelsmann Next, in India. The buy-and-build investment unit within Bertelsmann Investments was created in 2022 as a dedicated division to accelerate entrepreneurial development in key growth sectors.

Under this structure, LetsTransport will expand beyond a typical VC holding to become a core operating business within a dedicated “anchor investment” strategy, while founders continue to lead daily operations.

Post the acquisition, the logistics startup will be renamed to LetsTransport Group (LTG). While the founders will remain in full operational leadership, BI’s managing director Pankaj Makkar will become the chairman of LTG’s board. 

“LetsTransport will also work with other Bertelsmann and BI portfolio companies including Shiprocket to explore mutual collaboration opportunities. Our partnership with Shiprocket is built on a long-term view of value creation, and we look forward to continuing our association with the company post its IPO,” Makkar said.

Important to mention that BI made its first investment in LetsTransport back in 2018 and subsequently participated in following equity rounds as the startup grew. Most recently, BI also led LetsTransport’s Series E round, which saw it raise $22 Mn. 

Overall, LetsTransport had raised a cumulative investment of about $83 Mn from investors like InnoVen Capital, Alteria Capital, MSIVC, Stride Ventures, NB Ventures, among others. 

Speaking with Inc42, BI’s Makkar said that only the startup’s founders and the firm would have a stake in the company post the acquisition, as the deal would allow its other backers to exit. 

Founded in 2015 by Pushkar Singh, Sudarshan Ravi and Ankit Parasher, LetsTransport is a last-mile logistics tech provider for intra-state deliveries. The Bengaluru-based startup has about 500 employees working across technology, product, finance and other departments to offer light commercial vehicles for logistics across India, covering 80% of the country’s roads.

With about 250,000 truckers registered, Singh claimed LTG to be one of the largest trucking networks across the country. He told Inc42 LetsTransport serves 150 blue-chip clients and a few SMEs, spread across sectors like ecommerce, FMCG, FMCD, automotive, and the like.

“The core business today sits at about $150 Mn worth of annual revenue and it’s growing at 50% to 60% YoY, and it is also EBITDA profitable. We would also further invest in businesses that we are incubating,” Singh added.

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