Truck It In raises the largest seed round in MENAP trucking space The seed round was co-led by Global Founders Capital and Fatima Gobi Ventures. It is the largest seed round in the regional trucking sector to disrupt Pakistan’s $25B road freight market.
Karachi, Pakistan
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February 04, 2022 07:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
Homegrown logistics tech startup Truck It In has closed a $13 million seed round jointly led by venture capital firms Global Founders Capital and Fatima Gobi Ventures. The seed round is the largest of its kind in the MENAP (Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan) region, blowing out previous highs seen in 2021, which was already a banner year for Pakistani startups.
The latest seed round brings the total raised capital to $17.5 million, which will support Truck It In’s mission to transform Pakistan’s road freight industry. The round also saw participation from Wamda, Picus Capital, Millville, Graph Ventures, Zayn Capital, i2i Ventures, ADB Ventures, Cianna Capital, Reflect Ventures, and K3 Ventures.
Pakistan is one of the largest road freight markets in the Middle East and North Africa, representing a $25 billion annual opportunity, 10% of national GDP. Truck It In aims to be the nexus of road freight in the country by simplifying business for Pakistan’s three million SME businesses and SME truckers (80% of the supply market), who operate in an increasingly complex and deeply fragmented industry.
Muhammad Sarmad Farooq, CEO of Truck It In, said, “This seed round comes at an opportune time, as the funds will be deployed to expand our business, driving hiring across all functions, focusing on engineers to help double down on product development and increase our digital penetration in the market.
SMEs are reliant on mental notes and telephone calls to run their businesses. Truck It In is leading efforts to bring efficiencies here by building a platform to ensure that SMEs have the right tools and services to thrive today. We are looking to transform the experiences of shippers and truckers, heralding them into the digital future.
We are on an exciting journey creating value and solving deep-rooted challenges. In the past year, our revenue has grown 37x, we have expanded into 100+ trade lanes, and added 200 talents, as Truck It In continues to create impact every day. The impact generated allows truckers to lead better economic lives while serving the country.”
Truck It In is another key investment by Global Founders Capital that partners with fast-growing companies with huge potential to transform their industries. Tito Costa, the partner at Global Founders Capital, said, “The team at Truck It In is transforming the logistics industry in Pakistan at an unprecedented pace. We are honored to back them again to expand their coverage further and bring their solution to shippers and truckers across the country. ”
Fatima Gobi Ventures (FGV), a VC focused on backing promising early-stage Pakistani ventures, is also excited to play a role in developing such an impactful company. Ali Mukhtar, General Partner of FGV, said, “The pandemic has accelerated digital adoption among larger players, widening the gaps of the haves and have-nots in the logistics world. We believe Truck It In is key to closing this gap by making it easy for SME truckers to streamline operations and compete on a more level playing field while keeping costs competitive and serving as a vital lifeline for Pakistan’s thriving economy. With Sarmad and his team at the wheel, Pakistan’s SMEs are in pole position for a strong, sustainable, digital future.”
Alejandro Montealegre from Millville Opportunities Master Fund said, “We are excited to back Truck It In’s high caliber team who are providing tremendous value to a critical sector of Pakistan’s economy."
Kalsoom Lakhani, Co-Founder & GP at i2i Ventures, said, “Pakistan’s trucking industry presents an enormous opportunity for innovation & disruption, and we have a deep conviction in the Truck it In team, who are tackling this head-on. We are impressed by their execution and honored to support them on their journey as their investors.”
Faisal Aftab, Co-Founder Zayn Capital, said, “The Truck It In team has exhibited exceptional scaling ability by rapidly capturing significant market share in this fragmented industry. The team has the tenacity to solve problems unique to Pakistan, creating efficiency for customers and suppliers.”
About Truck It In
Truck It In is Pakistan’s fastest-growing road freight tech platform servicing clients across Pakistan. The company started operations in 2020 and aims to unlock more than $1 billion for Pakistani businesses through its trucking platform. https://www.truckitin.com/
About Global Founders Capital
Founders drive incredible opportunities in the world, and we are their greatest advocates. That’s because our team has built multi-billion dollar technology businesses from scratch and has thrived through all the twists and turns of entrepreneurship along with it. Over the past two decades, we have backed over five hundred entrepreneurs worldwide. Facebook, LinkedIn, Zalando, Lazada, Traveloka, Trivago, Jumia, Away Travel, HelloFresh, Eventbrite, Funding Circle, Slack, Revolut, Canva, Delivery Hero and HomeAway represent a few of our global successes. Global Founders Capital manages over $1.2 billion of committed capital and invests out of eleven offices worldwide. https://www.globalfounders.vc
About Fatima Gobi Ventures
By bringing together one of the largest conglomerates in Pakistan, Fatima Group and one of the most active multi-national venture capital firms in Asia, Gobi Partners, Fatima Gobi Ventures is fusing local expertise with regional VC know-how. We invest intelligently, using data collated from the flourishing entrepreneurial ecosystems of Northeast and Southeast Asia to identify companies locally that have the edge and drive to go beyond Pakistan’s borders. Simultaneously, we accelerate the growth of founders by benchmarking their businesses and linking them to the developed markets in Asia. For more information, please visit https://fatimagobi.vc/
About Wamda
Wamda accelerates entrepreneurship ecosystems throughout the Mena region by joining Wamda’s multi-stage, sector-agnostic investment vehicle, focused on partnering with high growth technology or technology-enabled startups, as well as the leading knowledge platform offering integrated programmes including thought leadership and research, community development, Wamda’s fellowship programme Wamda X, as well as corporate and government advisory services to the various stakeholders of the Mena startup ecosystem.
Contact Details
Truck It In
Bilal Mahmood
+44 7714 007257
b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com
Company Website
