The Fastest Growing Startups in Maharashtra Edition 1

Shoppers Stop, McDonald's, Swiggy,
and Big Basket, to name a few.
Nishant said further, “Our technology
platform and delivery network offer
varied services including On Demand,
GrabEx, First Mile, Forward, Reverse,
and IntraCity that caters to businesses
of all sizes and segments, across varied
sectors.”
Nishant was speaking with Insights
Success for its edition of ‘The Fastest
Growing Startups in Maharashtra’,
where he divulged his firm’s journey,
current phase in the new normal, and
how he plans to take GRAB to new
heights of success with his 15 years of
broad experience.
Please tell us about GRAB in detail.
GRAB is a Mumbai-based company
founded in 2013 when the last-mile
delivery market was budding in the
country.
GRAB is India's largest and fastestgrowing
tech-abled last-mile logistics
solution company that caters to
businesses ranging from restaurants,
online grocers, offline and online retail,
e-commerce platforms, Kirana stores,
pharmacies, etc.
The company focuses on providing a
host of technology-backed logistics
solutions to businesses that allow them
to deliver cost-effectively and
efficiently to their customers.
The company's vast clientele gets
connected to the crowdsourced
network of Grab's 100k+ supply fleet
to fulfil the pickup and delivery on a
highly customizable framework.
Over the years, GRAB has built an
expansive fleet network that comprises
riders, three-wheeler and four-wheeler
vehicles, vans and electric bikes. It
caters to thousands of Indian cities
with coverage from Kargil to
Kanyakumari, with delivery reach to
more than 13,000 pin codes.
What were the initial challenges that
you faced while commencing your
start-up?
A decade ago, the logistics industry
was unorganized in terms of fixed
delivery setup, no technology input,
unoptimized costs, unutilized
resources, etc. This led to untimely
deliveries of products to the end
customers.
When we launched our platform, we
were the first movers offering such
services to businesses. There were no
ready reckoners for us to refer to, and
we completely started from scratch.
From working on the tech stack to
understanding the processes and setting
up hyperlocal logistics models was
challenging initially. But we achieved
all of them by trial and error to arrive
at the suitable model that has pioneered
this industry today.
The team created a tech-abled delivery
platform that elevated the entire
delivery experience from smart order
assignment, delivery tracking, and
navigation to the customer while
optimizing the cost for its client
through building a strong network of
fleets.
What would be your advice to the
budding entrepreneurs who are
willing to start their own
venture/business?
It is good to have a successful
entrepreneur or a businessman as a
mentor if you start your own venture.
But, if you cannot find yourself a
mentor, you need to follow these tips to
stay motivated and stay in the game
during your journey.
• Do what you love: It is crucial for
you to understand the business in
and out that you are planning to
work on.
• Embrace challenges: As Shri
Dhirubhai Ambani said, “Pursue
your goals even in the face of
difficulties and convert adversities
into opportunities.” You need to
keep trying new things when you
are starting a business, or else you
wouldn't know what is working
and what is not.
22 | May 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
• Have a vision: Be clear in your
vision for your business. The
market is very cluttered; hence
you shouldn't lose focus on what
you want to achieve for your
business.
• Believe in yourself: There will be
obstacles when starting your own
business. However, it would be
best if you found ways to achieve
success. As they say- Find a way
or make one!
Being an experienced leader, share
your opinion on how the involvement
of emerging technologies enhances
the industry and what advancements
can we expect in the future?
The involvement of emerging
technologies is bringing a greater level
of efficiencies to our industry. For
instance, Grab’s adoption of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and Machine
Learning (ML) is driving the size of
the fleet needed in a specific
neighborhood at a particular time of
the day and also aiding delivery
partners to choose which is the optimal
route to take basis traffic conditions or
the most optimal entry point in a large
complex with multiple gates and so on.
While real-time tracking and routing
algorithms have seen significant
advancements in our industry, we
expect further evolutions in an
integrated yet modular tech stack for
end-to-end supply chain processes.
Where do you envision GRAB
eventually, and how do you plan to
embrace the changes happening in
your industry?
Currently, GRAB is present in all the
metro cities and Tier-2 cities. Our
footprint is across the corners of the
nation, literally- we have riders in
Kashmir to Kanyakumari.
Given the emergence of the quick
commerce platforms, we have elevated
our routing algorithms to ensure
customer and client satisfaction is
achieved. At the same time, we have
ensured rider safety which remains the
key aspect.