Uber Veteran Raises $31 Million With a Pitch to Battle Coronavirus

(Bloomberg) --

A former Uber Technologies Inc. executive has raised $31 million for his Indonesian logistics startup with an unusual pitch that it will help organizations battle the coronavirus in the country.

Jakarta-based Kargo Technologies pulled in the equity and debt funding from Silicon Valley-based Tenaya Capital, Sequoia India and Intudo Ventures, among others. A seed funding round a year ago included Sequoia India and Travis Kalanick, the former Uber chief executive officer.

Kargo’s CEO, Tiger Fang, is an Uber veteran and founded the company as a platform for shippers and their customers to connect. The business, self-described as Uber for logistics, lets companies find truckers or other transportation providers online to move their products via the app.

With the new funding, Kargo sketched out plans to help battle the coronavirus, with a $1 million relief fund for truckers and partnerships with charitable organizations that are delivering meals and medical supplies to health care workers and patients. The company is also implementing new practices to minimize human contact during its operations, including electronic proof of delivery.

“We have mobilized to answer this call-to-arms and do whatever is in our power to fight Covid-19 here in Indonesia,” Fang, 33, said in a statement.

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