KARACHI, (Reuters) – Trukkr, a fintech platform for Pakistan’s trucking sector, said on Tuesday that it had collected $6.4 million in a financing round and got an NBFC licence.
Trukkr provides a transport management system and supply chain solutions to Pakistan’s small and medium-sized trucking enterprises, and is unique in delivering fintech to digitise the mostly unbanked and undocumented sector.
Accion Venture Lab in the United States and Sturgeon Capital in London led the seed fundraising round. Trukkr stated in a statement that the round was also attended by Haitou Global, Al Zayani Venture Capital, and investor Peter Findley.
The business concept of the firm is similar to that of Kargo in Indonesia, Solvento in Mexico, and Kobo 360 in Africa, but has been tailored to the Pakistani market.
According to Trukkr, fewer than 5% of trucking firms utilising its network have access to banking services, with many having to wait up to 90 days for payments, leaving them unable to afford expenditures like gasoline, tolls, and vehicle maintenance.
Trukkr CEO and co-founder Sheryar Bawany told Reuters that the company was trying to provide financial products at a “fair risk-adjusted spread” to the benchmark Karachi Interbank Offered Rate (KIBOR).
According to co-founder Mishal Adamjee, there are around 20,000 drivers on Trukkr’s network, serving 100 of the country’s largest enterprises, including Shan Foods, Artistic Milliners, International Industries Limited, and Lucky Cement.
According to Adamjee, despite poor rail and water freight infrastructure, Pakistan’s $35 billion trucking business is increasing at a 10% yearly rate.
Accion Venture Lab, an investor, said that the Covid epidemic demonstrated how much the globe depended on global supply systems.
“We want to invest on a firm that is tackling inefficiencies in a market full with opportunity,” the company stated in a statement.
According to Pakistan’s Board of Investment, freight transport demand will quadruple by 2025 and more than sixfold by 2050, reaching 600 billion freight tonnes-kilometer, especially when the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor comes online.
Truck It In, BridgeLinx, and Freightix are three more goods marketplace firms in Pakistan.
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