Cold Chain Marketplace Startup Celcius Raises $500,000 In Seed Funding Round The fresh capital will be used to expand the platform's footprint across India while also enhancing its offerings and making it a one-stop-shop for all cold chain requirements

Mumbai-based cold chain marketplace startup Celcius announced on Wednesday to have raised $500,000 in a Seed funding round with Mumbai Angels Network, a startup investment platform for early-stage venture investments, along with Huddle, Lumis Partners, and other investors from Nigeria, Malaysia, and the US. This includes the amount Celcius had raised in a seed funding round in May.

"The past year has seen an uptick in demand for efficient cold-chain facilities and Celcius has been doing commendable work in the space by ensuring operational efficiency and cost optimization while also focussing on customer satisfaction and a tech-powered approach. We believe that this funding will enable them to further bolster their offerings and scale their business, thereby driving the growth of the cold-chain aggregation space overall," said Nandini Mansinghka, co-founder and chief executive officer, Mumbai Angels Network.

The startup will be utilizing the freshly infused capital to increase its reach across different cities as well as remote areas in the country aside from expanding its team and setting up headquarters in other cities to provide better localized cold chain solutions.

"Celcius has grown remarkably over the last 8 months, and we are thrilled to have secured funding from marquee investors who will be backing us in our journey. The funding will help us expand our footprint and scale the business and make cold chain products easily accessible across India. Through the expansion, we also plan to delve deeper into the segment by gaining more insights about other innovative cold chain solutions that we can offer, ultimately making our services all-encompassing," shared Swarup Bose, founder, and chief executive officer, Celcius.

Celcius also aims to expand its offerings by including a Transport Management System (TMS) and Warehouse Management System (WMS), thereby making the company a one-stop solution for all cold chain requirements.

"Celcius is developing a full-stack (first mile, warehousing to the last-mile) marketplace for cold chain logistics. It's a high conviction bet as I see a perfect founder's market fit in a space that has been largely ignored in the country until recently. Early traction proves product validation and with their Vahan Vikas Yojana scheme, they are addressing the reefer supply gap and building a deep moat," commented Siddharth Sirigeri, active angel investor and deal lead for the funding round.

"Celcius is building a solid value proposition for all its stakeholders by adopting technology to solve inefficiency, transparency, discovery, and provide quality assurance in the cold chain logistics market while aggregating fragmented demand and supply across regions. Their tech-first approach and consumer-centricity were what led us to invest. We are happy to be a part of their growth journey," added Abhishek Mittal, active angel investor, and deal lead.