Startup Circle: How is 13SQFT solving logistic problems of SME and Startups?

Logistics services are very critical for any business involved in the transportation of goods from one point to another. Managing the entire set of operations on your own can become too complicated and taxing, especially if you have other pressing matters on hand. By reducing customer acquisition time, the startup can upscale their business, save time and money. In the industry, the startup 13SQFT helps startups with its b2b logistic solutions.

From Warehousing to 4PL, the startup provides a one-stop solution to all logistic needs of a company. Read Mr Alok Bansal, Founder 13SQFT talk about the startup and how it helps brands in quick customer acquisition and saving time and money.

What is 13SQFT about? Tell us about the team.

13SQFT is India’s first-of-its-kind B2B platform on Warehousing, Logistics and Industries aggregating warehouses, lands, 3PL, 4PL logistics, MHE, Racking & Storage, Packaging, Technology, Automation & Robotics, Contractors, Consultants, service providers, Manpower Vendors and all the Infrastructure Services on a unified platform.

13SQFT aims to uniform the scattered industry and categories by providing an integrated industry-oriented ecommerce platform. Currently, we have over 80+ categories and various partners in each of these categories. Now, we aim to be a 365-day Trade exhibition for all organisations - SME, MNC or a Startup scouting for right clients or customers all clients scouting for right vendors/OEMs and Products.

The team is continuously expanding and comprises young & dynamic people.

How did you come up with the idea?

While working in the warehousing and logistics industry at the leadership position, have observed and felt many pain points and disintegration. As a client, I faced the challenges of finding the right vendor, with the right technology/product/ services in due course of time. The dependency of searching vendors always impacted the timely delivery and completion of the project. There is no such unified platform which provides a one-stop solution for all the warehousing, Logistics & Infrastructure needs.

This is a very different concept, how is the Indian market adapting it?

In a very short course of time, we have been receiving an overwhelming response. The concept has been widely accepted & appreciated by Industry leaders and experts. The end users now understand the need for such a platform which is improving & simplifying the user journey and hence decreasing the TAT. As there is no other concentrated & professional platform in the industry which not only can display products but also doing real Sales & Marketing for partners, procurement & project management for end-users, hence big brands along with aspirational small companies are coming on board.

What is your business/market growth?

Growth is good. In a short span, we got partners like Greenbase (Hiranandani's group), Safexpress, Balmer Lawrie, Delhivery, ESR, Embassy, Kelly India, Inlogsys, Yale, DTDC and other 150+ brands.

The pandemic has affected every sector. How are you coping?

The pandemic has led to a boom in the ecommerce sector, which has opened a gateway of opportunities in the Warehousing & Logistics sector too. Where it affected many businesses adversely, we launched 13sqft during the Pandemic. Thus, we gave a digital platform to many small-medium business owners. Companies have realised the importance of having a digital footprint and amending their spends accordingly.

We are rapidly expanding and aim to unite all the spaces, Infrastructure & technology companies on our platform.

What are your Post-Covid plans?

Being a digital company, covid acted as an accelerator for us as businesses are moving online. We were able to onboard 150 partners before the official launch of the website. As a B2B platform, it will not impact us majorly. But we expect a faster conversion rate with our new onboards.

Funding

We are looking for an aggressive expansion as the market is welcoming us. There are also tremendous opportunities in this warehousing and industrial sector, hence we are looking for investment too. A couple of investors have also approached us. Hopefully, we will be getting the right things at the right time