Celcius Logistics, a cold chain logistics startup, has secured Rs 250 crore in a Series B funding round aimed at expanding its cold chain infrastructure and enhancing its technology platform.
The round included a mix of equity, debt, and secondary transactions. Eurazeo and Omnivore co-led the equity funding, while IvyCap Ventures returned as an investor. Trifecta Capital, Lighthouse Canton, BlackSoil, UCIC, and GetVantage provided the debt funding.
“This funding comes at a pivotal time,” said Swarup Bose, founder and CEO of Celcius Logistics. “We’re scaling our operations, strengthening our verticals, and targeting expansion into over 1,000 cities.”
This latest capital infusion comes on the heels of a Rs 40-crore pre-Series B round raised in May 2024, bringing Celcius’ total funding to Rs 390 crore since its launch in 2020.
According to Bose, the company aims to create India’s most comprehensive and technology-driven cold chain ecosystem—an area long plagued by fragmentation, inefficiencies, and high spoilage rates of perishable goods.
Celcius Logistics initially focused on the transport of frozen foods but recently expanded into pharmaceutical logistics, a move Bose calls a “natural evolution” driven by demand. “When we started in 2020, it was right in the middle of COVID. That made the inefficiencies of the cold chain industry really apparent. We realized early that pharma—like vaccines and insulin—would need far more reliable cold chain infra,” he said.
Celcius Logistics reports having a nationwide network that includes over 4,000 refrigerated vehicles, more than 150 cold storage and distribution centers, and a fleet of over 250 hyperlocal delivery riders. “We are already in 600 cities. The Series B funding will take us to 1,000-plus. We want to ensure that if you’re in a Tier III town and you need a temperature-sensitive delivery, we can do it,” said Bose.
Bose highlighted that Celcius Logistics built its entire technology stack in-house, including its proprietary Transport Management System, Warehouse Management System, and Inventory Management System. “From day one, we’ve been a tech-first company. All the software has been built internally—never outsourced,” he said.
He also said that the company’s long-term goal is to offer this tech platform as a subscription-based SaaS solution, targeting both Indian and international markets.
“We are building a cross-operational platform that integrates transport, warehousing, inventory, dispatch, and last-mile distribution into one system,” he explained. “Once we hit a certain level of integration—including backward integration into ERPs like SAP—we plan to white label the platform for use by other logistics companies and clients.”
Bose also suggested that the upcoming product will feature AI and blockchain capabilities, which are particularly valuable in pharmaceutical logistics, where security, traceability, and real-time monitoring are essential.
“AI was not feasible for us in the beginning due to lack of data, but now with three to four years of operational data, we’re actively working to embed AI in routing and efficiency,” said Bose.
A key initiative that closely aligns with the company’s mission is its ‘New Age’ business vertical, introduced in 2024, which aims to address logistics challenges for small and regional D2C brands across India. “We realized there are thousands of businesses in India—snack brands, ice cream makers, sweet shops—that want to go national but don’t have access to cold chain infra at scale,” Bose added.
Celcius is currently partnering with more than 160 small D2C brands and anticipates significant growth in this segment during FY25. “This segment is entirely underserved. We’ve built a system that allows micro-quantities to move efficiently while offering warehousing and delivery all through our existing network,” he said.
Celcius Logistics is positioning itself as a frontrunner in India’s cold chain logistics space with its tech-first approach, nationwide infrastructure, and focus on underserved segments like small D2C brands. With fresh funding, proprietary technology, and ambitious expansion plans, the company aims to redefine temperature-controlled supply chains both in India and globally.
