Kenya’s tech-driven logistics services company, Lori Systems has secured funding from tech giant Google’s $50-million Africa Investment Fund.
The logistics startup secured an undisclosed investment from Imperial Logistics in 2020 after raising $30 million in a Series A funding round led by Chinese investors in 2019.
Lori Systems was founded in 2017 and since then has been instrumental in helping thousands of shippers and carriers move over $ 10 billion worth of cargo across Africa. It has also helped in bringing down the cost of goods by eliminating hectic and financially demanding points along the cargo journey.
In Africa, logistic operators go through several challenges from fragmented supply and demand markets, to inconsistent pricing, paper documentation, and little or no access to financing.
Lori Systems has helped to reduce these challenges by seamlessly bridging the gap between shippers and transport; providing shippers with solutions to efficiently manage their cargo and transporters; and digitising their entire transport operations from sourcing transport to documentation and payments.
Google sub-Saharan Africa MD Nitin Gajria said, “At Google, we understand the transformative power digitisation can bring to the African continent. There is so much potential in the region, but it is only through innovation that this can be fully unlocked.”
“In recent years the global logistics industry has seen much innovation. However global supply chains are in dire need of modernisation, with technologies yet to reach critical scale,” adds Lori Systems cofounder and chief product officer Jean-Claude Homawoo.
According to Homawoo, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement is expected to lead to an 81% increase in intra-African trade, providing a $21.9-billion opportunity in untapped trade potential that the 54 ratifying countries are hoping to capitalise on over the next five years.
“Logistics is key to unlocking this opportunity.”
“We are excited to have Google as a partner as we continue to build the operating system for emerging market logistics. Our vision of the future of logistics in Africa is one that is digital, scalable and more efficient,” says Lori Systems CEO Uche Ogboi.
“We have been successful, achieving up to 20% price reduction for cargo owners and nearly two-time increase in truck use for transporters on our platform. We are excited about this funding as it will allow us to continue driving superior efficiencies across logistics on the continent.”
