Trucking logistics firm Rivigo plans to raise $50-100 million in a pre-IPO (initial public offering) round this year, and then take it public in 2024.

The firm in the last two years turned from an asset heavy to an asset light model, to achieve scalability and reduce losses.

Launched in 2014, Gurugram-based Rivigo has a ‘relay trucking’ model, under which a truck driver hands over the vehicle to another driver at a designated pit stop, thereby ensuring that the truck is not idle at any point during the journey.

Rivigo is the eighth Indian start up to become a unicorn — valued a billion dollars or more — in 2019, after it raised $4.9 million from a South Korean fund, KB Platform Fund.

Deepak Garg, CEO and founder, Rivigo says, “as we finish this transition, we hope that we will be in a steadier shape soon. We will do a pre-IPO round this year and then take the company public in 18-24 months. While we were heavily loss-making pre-covid, as we pivoted to an asset light model, now we are moving towards more sustainable cashflows.”

“At the highest peak, we owned about 3000 trucks, now we own and operate about 1000 trucks,” Garg adds.

Besides, Rivigo started with a unique business model and performed well, it hit a roadblock when it came to scalability as it became asset heavy.

Rivigo says, it has re-launched the National Freight Index (NFI) to bring pricing transparency in freight rates. It re-launched the NFI this week after over two years, to publish daily rates for container trucks, which will ensure transparency in the road-freight marketplace.

Garg says, “we are optimistic about creating a platform for fleet owners and transporters, which will enable the growth of the logistics sector. Currently, we are at a stage where the growth of the economy is creating a balance between the supply and demand in the market, which will confidently lead to sustainable freight pricing and profitability for small fleet owners and road freight operations.”