Rajesh Yabaji
Co-Founder & CEO, BlackBuck (Zinka Logistics); Angel Investor at blackbuck
Reviewed Updated May 1, 2026This profile is AI-generated. If you spot an error, please help us fix it by sharing a URL to the correct information.
Background
Rajesh Yabaji is the Co-Founder and CEO of BlackBuck, the Bengaluru-headquartered B2B trucking and freight technology platform operated by Zinka Logistics Solutions Limited 12. He co-founded the company in April 2015 with Chanakya Hridaya and Ramasubramaniam B, both former IIT Kharagpur peers 13.
Yabaji holds a B.Tech in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from IIT Kharagpur (2010) 45. Before founding BlackBuck, he spent several years at ITC Limited, most prominently heading supply chain operations in the company’s Leaf Tobacco Business — a role that exposed him to India’s fragmented road-freight market and seeded the idea for BlackBuck 124. (Note: the briefing for this profile referenced ICICI Bank, but sources consistently identify ITC, not ICICI, as Yabaji’s pre-BlackBuck employer.)
BlackBuck operates a digital platform for truck operators across India. As of FY2024, 963,345 truck operators — approximately 27.52% of all Indian truck operators — transacted on the BlackBuck app 6. The company raised approximately $359 million in private funding from investors including Accel, Sands Capital, Flipkart, Sequoia Capital, Goldman Sachs, IFC, B Capital and Tiger Global before its public listing 17.
In November 2024, Zinka Logistics completed its IPO on the NSE and BSE, marking the first major Indian logistics-tech listing of the cycle. The ₹1,114.72 crore offering (fresh issue of ₹550 crore plus an offer-for-sale of ₹565 crore) was priced at ₹259-₹273 per share, was subscribed 1.86x overall (QIB portion 2.76x), and listed on November 22, 2024 at ₹280.90, a 2.89% premium to the issue price 67. As of 2025, BlackBuck’s market capitalisation was reported at over $1.3 billion, and Yabaji’s personal stake was estimated at roughly $113 million 4.
Alongside his operating role at BlackBuck, Yabaji is an active angel investor in early-stage Indian startups, primarily at pre-seed and seed stages 81.
Stated Thesis
Yabaji has not published a formal angel-investing thesis. His public commentary is dominated by his operator role at BlackBuck — specifically his views on logistics, infrastructure, and tech-enabled formalisation of unorganised sectors:
“The problems in the trucking industry are not just business related, but systemic.” — Rajesh Yabaji, on BlackBuck being adopted as a Harvard Business School case study 9
“What India needs right now is huge infrastructure support to grow.” — Rajesh Yabaji, same interview 9
Razorpay Rize, which aggregates Indian angel investor profiles, classifies Yabaji’s investing focus across fintech, healthtech, edtech, mobility, consumer and agritech, investing primarily at pre-seed and seed stages 1.
Inferred Thesis
This analysis is based on Yabaji’s publicly documented angel portfolio (Tracxn reports 18 companies; Razorpay Rize reports 17) 81 and contemporaneous press coverage of specific rounds. The sample is small relative to institutional investors and any percentage breakdowns would be unreliable, so this section uses qualitative descriptions instead.
Stage focus. Yabaji’s documented checks are concentrated at pre-seed and seed, with occasional follow-on participation. Razorpay Rize explicitly describes him as a “Pre-Seed and Seed” angel 1. The most recent disclosed rounds — Flent Seed November 2025, 4amFresh Seed October 2025, Oolka Seed September 2025 — all fit this pattern 8.
Sector tilt. The portfolio leans toward sectors where BlackBuck-adjacent operating experience is most relevant: financial services / fintech for SMBs (Flent), supply chain and consumer (Oolka, 4amFresh, Captain Fresh), mobility (VOGO), agri (Agrim), and deep-tech / mobility batteries (Log9 Materials) 81. There is no documented exposure to enterprise SaaS, gaming, or crypto in disclosed deals.
Geographic focus. All documented investments are India-headquartered companies, consistent with Yabaji’s Bengaluru base and India operating focus 8.
Co-investor patterns. Sample is too sparse to confidently identify recurring co-investors. Captain Fresh, Log9 Materials and VOGO are all backed by large multi-stage Indian VC funds (Accel, Matrix/Z47, Sequoia/Peak XV among them), suggesting Yabaji typically writes small angel checks alongside institutional leads rather than leading rounds himself 8.
Operator pattern. The strongest read on Yabaji’s thesis is that he is an operator-investor focused on physical-world, B2B, India-supply-chain plays — sectors where his on-the-ground experience scaling BlackBuck from “dhool-mitti” (literally “dust and dirt”) truck stops to a public company is most directly transferable 9. He has called blockchain’s “first wide use cases” logistics-driven 9, and his investing footprint reflects a bias toward formalising fragmented offline markets.
Cadence and capacity. Following BlackBuck’s IPO in November 2024 and his post-IPO operational responsibilities as a public-company CEO, Yabaji’s angel cadence has remained active through early 2026 (Flent debt round in January 2026) but should be expected to remain measured rather than prolific 8.
Portfolio
Tracxn reports a portfolio of 18 companies; Razorpay Rize reports 17 81. This table represents the subset where Tracxn or other sources confirm both the company and an investment date; full coverage of the portfolio is not publicly disclosed.
| Company | Year | Stage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flent | 2026-01-07 | Conventional Debt ($444K) | 8 |
| Flent | 2025-11-05 | Seed ($1.89M) | 8 |
| 4amFresh | 2025-10-17 | Seed ($682K) | 8 |
| Oolka | 2025-09-24 | Seed ($7M) | 8 |
| ~unknown | Agrim | — | Angel |
| ~unknown | Log9 Materials | — | Angel |
| ~unknown | Captain Fresh | — | Angel |
| ~unknown | VOGO | — | Angel |
| ~unknown | Agrify | — | Angel |
| ~unknown | Bonatra Healthcare | — | Angel (clinics / outpatient) |
| ~unknown | Klub | — | Angel |
In Their Own Words
“It’s a big vote of confidence and extremely humbling to know that the BlackBuck story will be taught to and examined by some of the brightest business students in the world at Harvard.” — Rajesh Yabaji, on BlackBuck becoming a Harvard Business School case study taught in August 2018 9
“This is an amazing outcome for BlackBuck, but even beyond BlackBuck, it really speaks to the potential of the tech startup industry in India.” — Rajesh Yabaji, same Inc42 interview 9
“The problems in the trucking industry are not just business related, but systemic.” — Rajesh Yabaji, Inc42, on India’s trucking sector 9
“Blockchain will have its first wide use cases from logistics.” — Rajesh Yabaji, Inc42 9
These quotes are operator/industry-focused rather than investor-philosophy quotes. No verbatim first-person quotes from Yabaji specifically describing his angel-investing decision-making were located in this research pass.
What Founders Say
No independently sourced verbatim founder testimonials about Rajesh Yabaji’s behavior as an angel investor were located in this research pass that meet Seedlist’s standards (direct first-person quotes from portfolio founders about their actual working relationship with him). Given the modest size of his disclosed angel portfolio (~18 companies) and his operating workload as a public-company CEO, dedicated podcast / interview research with Flent, Oolka, Captain Fresh or Log9 founders would be needed to substantiate this section.
Connections
- Co-Founder & CEO, BlackBuck (Zinka Logistics Solutions Limited) — founded April 2015; led the company through its November 2024 NSE/BSE IPO 1267
- Co-Founder partnership with Chanakya Hridaya — fellow IIT Kharagpur alumnus and former ITC colleague 13
- Co-Founder partnership with Ramasubramaniam B — third co-founder of BlackBuck 13
- Former Manager, Supply Chain — ITC Limited (Leaf Tobacco Business) — ran supply chain operations before resigning in April 2015 to start BlackBuck 124
- BlackBuck institutional investor network — Accel, Sands Capital, Flipkart, Sequoia Capital / Peak XV, Goldman Sachs, IFC, B Capital, Tiger Global 17
- Featured in Harvard Business School case study (August 2018) — case developed by Professor Shikhar Ghosh after on-site visits to BlackBuck 9
- IIT Kharagpur alumni network (B.Tech Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, 2010) 45
Sources
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Razorpay Rize, “List of Startups Funded by Rajesh Yabaji — Investor Profile (BlackBuck Co-Founder & CEO),” accessed May 2026. https://razorpay.com/rize/investors-list/blackbuck↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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StartupTalky, “How Rajesh Yabaji Is Driving BlackBuck’s Tech Freight Revolution — Career & Biography,” accessed May 2026. https://startuptalky.com/rajesh-kumar-naidu-yabaji-success-story/↩↩↩↩
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ChaturIdeas, “Redefining the logistics landscape of India — Founders of BlackBuck,” accessed May 2026. https://www.chaturideas.com/ic/Redefining_the_logistics_landscape_of_India_Founders_of_Blackbuck↩↩↩
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Mabumbe, “Rajesh Yabaji: Age, Net Worth, Biography & Career,” accessed May 2026. https://mabumbe.com/people/rajesh-yabaji-age-net-worth-biography-career/↩↩↩↩↩
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Rajesh Yabaji on LinkedIn, accessed May 2026. https://in.linkedin.com/in/rajesh-yabaji-302347a↩↩
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Upstox, “Zinka Logistics IPO Listing Date: Shares of BlackBuck operator to list on NSE and BSE on November 22,” November 2024. https://upstox.com/news/market-news/ipo/zinka-logistics-ipo-listing-share-price-live-blackbuck-shares-list-premium-discount-nse-bse-news-2024-check-list-of-key-details/article-129660/↩↩↩
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Chittorgarh, “Zinka Logistics Solutions IPO Date, Price, GMP, Details,” accessed May 2026. https://www.chittorgarh.com/ipo/blackbuck-ipo/1904/↩↩↩↩
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Tracxn, “Rajesh Yabaji — Portfolio and Founded Companies,” accessed May 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/people/rajesh-yabaji/__a89tVo8RJBpPGAeJ9Pt0GPerULgdaivScbdfkslTqr8↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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Inc42, “BlackBuck Founder Rajesh Yabaji On Starting A ‘Dhool-Mitti’ Business Which Went On To Be A Harvard Case Study,” accessed May 2026. https://inc42.com/features/blackbuck-founder-rajesh-yabaji-on-starting-a-dhool-mitthi-business-which-went-on-to-be-a-harvard-case-study/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩