POWER TO PUSH

The logistics industry seems to be on the threshold of unprecedented development with government initiatives as well as new technologies. We speak to Umang Shukla, the maverick behind a successful startup, to know his side of the story.

- Chitman Kanwar Ahuja

Tell us about the journey that led to the formation of Edgistify. What are some of the challenges you have faced so far?

After I graduated from IIT Kanpur in 2015, I was working on starting something of my own. That’s why I joined an early-stage start-up pit stop, to learn about the diverse roles. In 2016-17 GST related news was on a high and its impact over the logistics industry was the talk of the town. As co-founders, Antim, Kamal and I, were initially in different sectors, — Kamal at that time was a part of — Target Corporation working as a part of their tech team, designing tech products required for their supply chain. Kamal and I were in Bangalore where we discussed the proposition of working in the logistics sector. Post that we reached out to Antim who also was convinced of the opportunity. Then to validate the same I reached out to more than 300 supply chain heads and the response that we received was unexpected. I received 50 odd requests and everyone showed interest in our offerings. That’s how we started out. The major challenge that we faced was starting from scratch. When you’re trying to cause a disruption in this huge unorganised sector with so many players, you are bound to face a lot of challenges. There was no structure in the parameters that were used to identify and select warehouses. Every stakeholder had their own set of parameters. Identifying all of the requirements of various firms and providing them with solutions on a single platform was a challenging task.

Tell us about the products and services offered by Edgistify. How do they differ from those offered by traditional logistics firms?