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Crafting Bharat - S2 launches their sixth episode with Swapnil Shah of Freight Tiger

Crafting Bharat - S2 launches their sixth episode with Swapnil Shah of Freight Tiger

VMPL
New Delhi [India], June 17: India stands at a pivotal crossroads in its history, confidently embracing its role as a global powerhouse in the 21st century. Currently the world's fifth-largest economy, projections indicate that by 2027, India will become the third largest, and by 2047, it is poised to evolve into a US$30 trillion economy with all the hallmarks of a developed nation.
The "Crafting Bharat - Season 2" powered by AWS Startups, an initiative by NewsReach, in association with VCCircle, and production partner - HT Smartcast, explores how startups are harnessing the power of the cloud to accelerate growth, optimise operations, and build solutions that will define the India of Tomorrow. This series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.
In this episode, we spotlight Swapnil Shah, Founder and CEO of Freight Tiger, who are developing the nation by providing an end-to-end freight management platform for frictionless logistics. He shares insights about the logistics ecosystem, digitizing the freight industry, and how AWS helps them innovate their product.
Freight Tiger currently manages close to 5% of the country's road freight--an impressive share that it aims to quadruple to 20% over the next four years.
In this series, explore inspiring startup stories that are shifting gears and sparking innovation across sectors, all contributing to India's transformation into a developed nation by 2047 in this captivating series.
Watch Episode: https://youtu.be/F3X736zDmO0
Edited Excerpts:
Segment 1: Ignite
It's not easy to experiment in the logistics space right because any small change can have exponential side effects so in that context without any shortcuts available how did you get your product market fit?
My engineering background shapes my approach--even after business school, I remain an engineer at heart. In engineering, you start with a small experiment, test, refine, and then scale up. As Brian Armstrong famously said, "action produces information." Rather than overthink without product-market fit, we rapidly iterate based on customer and team feedback. Being truly customer-centric, we work backwards from our clients' needs, which has been key to clarifying our strategy and achieving success.
How did you manage the product roadmap and upsells during this growth period?
We started with a very simple idea--everyone in India wanted to know where their shipment was and what the ETA would be. For the first two years, Freight Tiger focused purely on track and trace, staying under the radar as many viewed it as just a basic visibility solution. But what we were actually doing was pioneering real-time, in-transit visibility in India. We were the first to crack this, even at a time when GPS units were scarce on trucks. Whether or not a truck had telematics, we figured out how to provide accurate real-time location and ETA data.
A key innovation was our introduction of the electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD) system, which significantly streamlined the confirmation process and reduced delivery disputes--bringing much-needed transparency to a historically opaque process.
In our ecosystem, we don't serve just one customer--we serve three: the shipper, the logistics service provider, and the fleet owner or driver. And within that, there are also consignees and receivers. If we were going to build a true network and enable network-level visibility, we had to do it from the ground up--and digitally, since we never aimed to own physical assets.
In fact, we're connecting shippers, logistics service providers, and truckers with a thread of technology that transforms logistics from a fragmented and manual industry to one that's connected and intelligent.
Segment 2: Launch
How is your tech stack evolving to cater to shorter timelines of delivery in services every year?
We quickly realized that a software-led approach was the only way to tackle the complexity of logistics at scale. Managing complexity while keeping things scalable and fast: that's been one of our biggest challenges. It's not just about our internal delivery timelines, but also about helping our customers meet increasingly tight delivery expectations--especially in today's world of quick commerce. Logistics is a physical, multi-party domain--there are trucks, vessels, ports, consignees, and so many moving pieces. Building a system that can abstract that physical chaos into a clean, usable digital layer is extremely difficult, but also what makes this such an interesting problem to solve.
Sub-segment: Boost
How does partnering with AWS helps you to innovate on product and tech while the engines keep running smoothly?
From day one, Freight Tiger has been built on AWS. For any startup looking to launch quickly, the flexibility and scalability AWS offers is a game-changer--it's something we might take for granted today, but it truly lowers the barrier to entry, both in terms of speed and cost. They worked closely with us to understand our goals--like optimizing infrastructure cost per trip to better serve our customers--and we've continued to fine-tune that with them. This partnership has been genuinely fantastic and has played a key role in helping us scale efficiently while serving customers of all sizes.
Freight Tiger's growth journey has also been backed by high-quality global investors--including Tata Motors--who bring not just capital but deep industry insight, giving the company a solid foundation for long-term impact.
Segment 3: Orbit
What is Freight Tiger's goal in terms of making its sustainability factor go up to be in sync with the nation's net zero targets?
One major challenge in the industry is that 30-40% of vehicle capacity runs as empty miles, which is highly inefficient. At the same time, there's growing momentum toward adopting alternate fuels, including electric and hybrid vehicles. But when shippers are under pressure to deliver quickly, sustainability often takes a back seat. Our goal is to change that by becoming a strategic partner to our customers--helping them identify logistics service providers and truck owners who operate cleaner, more sustainable fleets. With the robust freight ecosystem we've built, Freight Tiger is uniquely positioned to drive this shift at scale.
As India strides toward becoming a developed nation, the logistics sector will play a pivotal role in shaping that future. A seamless, efficient, and sustainable logistics ecosystem will not only accelerate economic growth but also elevate the country to new heights on the global stage.
Stay tuned to Crafting Bharat - Season 2 as we bring you these inspiring entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussion with Gautam Srinivasan.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craftingbharatofficial/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/craftingbharat/
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Delhi startup Launches Chanakya AI, introducing AI Teachers that Analyses Answers and Gives Smarter Feedback
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time36 minutes ago

  • Business Standard

Delhi startup Launches Chanakya AI, introducing AI Teachers that Analyses Answers and Gives Smarter Feedback

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After students upload photos of their handwritten answers, the AI system analyzes their work, highlighting error patterns, identifying conceptual gaps, and calculating marks lost due to repeated mistakes. "Traditional methods simply tell students how many marks they've scored or lost," explained Garvit Kothari, CEO and Co-founder. "We go further. For example, if a student consistently mixes up velocity and acceleration concepts, we not only show them they've lost 8 marks because of this recurring mistake but also create targeted interventions addressing this conceptual confusion." This approach represents a fundamental improvement over traditional educational systems and current edtech platforms like Byju's, Unacademy, and Vedantu, which provide standardized lectures and multiple-choice questions, rather than personalized insights into handwritten answers. 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US student visa slots still scarce; Indian students risk losing lakhs
US student visa slots still scarce; Indian students risk losing lakhs

Business Standard

time36 minutes ago

  • Business Standard

US student visa slots still scarce; Indian students risk losing lakhs

It's been nearly two weeks since the US consulates resumed student visa interviews on June 26, but for Indian applicants, the scramble hasn't eased. Appointments remain scarce, delays continue, and growing uncertainty is throwing August travel plans into disarray. 'Right now, even though the US finally started releasing visa appointments again, it's honestly a mess. Slots open at random times, and they're gone in seconds,' Kajal Dave, co-founder of LaunchEd told Business Standard. 'Students with courses starting in August are freaking out because they've already paid lakhs in tuition, booked flights, and arranged housing—but can't get a visa appointment in time.' According to her, the potential financial hit is huge. 'We're talking about ₹10–30 lakh in tuition, another lakh or two for housing deposits, and at least ₹75,000 on flights. If they can't make it on time and the college won't let them defer, that's potentially ₹12–35 lakh down the drain. 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Siddharth Iyer, chief operating officer at OneStep Global, confirmed that the problem extends to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where access to alternate consulates is limited. 'Even in metro locations, the pace of slot release hasn't matched the demand. This is particularly concerning given that most courses begin mid-August, and many students have already paid tuition and signed leases,' Iyer told Business Standard. He described the delays as part of a larger pattern. 'What we're witnessing is less about individual delay and more about systemic bottlenecking,' he said. Some avoided delays by applying early Sanjog Anand, co-founder of Rostrum Education, said some students avoided the mess altogether. 'As soon as they received their acceptance letters, they immediately completed their visa applications and related paperwork. This proactive approach helped them bypass the uncertainty and delays that arose later in the season,' Anand told Business Standard. 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Stock market ends flat as investors await clarity on India-US trade deal
Stock market ends flat as investors await clarity on India-US trade deal

Hans India

timean hour ago

  • Hans India

Stock market ends flat as investors await clarity on India-US trade deal

Mumbai: The Indian stock market ended flat on Monday as investors remained cautious amid uncertainty around the interim India-US trade deal. Sensex closed at 83,409.68, marginally up 9.61 points or 0.01 per cent. The 30-share index opened marginally lower at 83,398.08 against the last session's closing of 83,432.89. The index did not see much volatility as it touched an intra-day high at 83,516.83, a jump of 84 points. Similarly, Nifty settled flat at 25,461.30, up 0.30 points. From the Sensex basket, Hindustan Unilever, Adani Ports, Kotak Bank, Asian Paints, ITC, Power Grid, NTPC, Bharati Airtel, and Sun Pharma settled in positive territory. While Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, L&T, TCS, SBI, and Infosys ended in the red. Meanwhile, 22 shares advanced and 28 declined from the Nifty50 index. Nifty largely traded in a narrow range throughout the session as investors remained cautious ahead of the anticipated US tariff announcements, said analysts. 'Market participants appeared reluctant to take aggressive positions, keeping the broader index range-bound," said Sundar Kewat from Ashika Institutional Equity. The broader index remained range-bound as market participants seemed hesitant to adopt aggressive positions. On the sectoral level, stocks in the consumer goods, oil and gas, consumption, and real estate sectors showed buying interest. On the other hand, there was some profit-booking and poor performance in the media, metals, IT, and automotive sectors, said analysts. The majority of broader indices closed in negative territory, with the Nifty Midcap 100 declining 0.27 per cent or 162 points and the Nifty Smallcap 100 down 0.44 per cent or 82.90 points. Nifty FMCG and Nifty 100 surged. Rupee traded weaker by 0.47 rupees or 0.56 per cent, closing at 85.87, as dollar strength returned amid renewed uncertainty over US trade deals. With the 90-day tariff extension period nearing its end and no formal agreements signed yet, market sentiment has turned cautious. All eyes are now on the upcoming Fed meeting minutes, which could guide dollar direction further, said analysts.

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