African Uber of Trucks, Lori Systems Raises $30m Led by investors From China

Lori Systems which prides itself as the African Uber of trucks has raised US$30 million in a Series A funding round led by Chinese investment firm Hillhouse Capital Group and Chinese investment fund Crystal Stream specialized in startups in TMT (technology, media, and telecom) field.

Apoletto Asia, an early-stage company-focused venture capital firm founded by DST Global’s founder Yuri Milner, venture capital fund EchoVC Partners, seed stage-focused Venture capital firm Timon Capital participated in the round.

Investment firm the Raba Partnership, and Endeavor Catalyst, an innovative co-investment vehicle under Endeavor Entrepreneurs also invested in the round.

Founded in 2016 and based in Kenya, Lori Systems is a logistics coordination platform that connects cargo owners to transportation.

The company provides the transportation market with real-time information and optimization which is used to make informed decisions to reduce inefficiencies and increase the utilization of trucking assets. It aims to lower the costs of goods in Africa.

Lori Systems’ service has covered East Africa such as Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and West Africa including Nigeria and Ghana.

Wang Mengqiu, founding partner of Crystal Stream said that it is the best time to invest in Africa based on the company’s research. “We think that infrastructure-related technology such as informalized logistics platform is one of the most important cornerstones of the business development in Africa,” Wang said.

“The traditional logistics industry is being optimized by data and technology. Equipped with Internet technology, Lori Systems will lead the logistics revolution in Africa,” said Josh Sandler, founder, and chief executive officer of Lori Systems.

Proceeds from the round will be used to improve technology, products, service, operation, and team building.

The company has so far completed three financing rounds. It closed US$6.2 million seed round in 2018 and US$25,000 seed round in 2017.