MVXChange, a Nigerian trade and tech startup, has launched a new product offering titled MVXTransit, expanding its range of services for small African businesses. The new platform, MVXTransit is a convenient and easy-to-use digital freight booking and management platform for African businesses.
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Digitally managing shipments
Forming part of MVXchange, a digital platform that provided a multi-product booking platform to combine the supply and demand of end-to-end services, the new trade product offering aims to simplify and organize the flow of import, export, regional and in-country freights for proudly Africa-based businesses.
MCXTransit assists businesses in managing their imports and exports in and out of Africa whether it’s by sea or air. The startup provides an in-house customs team with local partners to speed up the delivery process, reaching customers faster.
Their team ensures that the deliveries are classified accurately and that they comply with custom duties and policies. This is done before the delivery is picked up and when the delivery arrives.
In an interview, Tonye Membere-Otaji, founder and CEO of MVXchange explains that he and his team found that it was challenging and expensive for small businesses (SMEs) to import and export their goods in and out of Africa.
Membere-Otaji attributes this to the intricate chain of intermediaries and service providers involved in a shipment of one 20ft container.
“During one of our many sprint sessions, we realized our existing technology could be modified to simplify these challenges in the freight market. That’s how MVXtransit was born.”
Expansion is on the cards for the Nigerian trade and tech startup as it aims to provide solutions to increase the purchase of African goods.
“Our long term purpose is to facilitate the flow of exports out of Africa. We strongly believe trade is the quickest path to development across the continent; the quicker we get products exported, the faster the continent grows,” commented Membere-Otaji.
Launching during a pandemic
The Nigerian tech startup launched the new product offering in March 2020, amidst the global pandemic. Membere-Otaji outlines that the biggest challenge faced while launching the new platform was performing imports and exports during the Covid-19 lockdown.
“The quarantine period for ships calling at ports and the general decline in global trade affected our launch, regardless, we quickly switched gears to focus on in-country haulage demand by providing river barges and tugs to move containers in and out of Apapa ports to avoid gridlock,” said Membere-Otaji.
MVXchange and MVXenergi
MVXchange was founded in March 2019 as an online platform that matches vessel charter requests with available offshore support vessels (OSV). MVXchange initially focused on the energy sector but has since gone to expand its offering catering to a variety of client needs with innovative solutions in the trading market.
Its platforms have assisted their clients with access to charter vessels while reducing costs and improving their performance.
MVXchange have also launched their platform, MVXenergi. This platform has reportedly incorporated approximately 15% of Africa’s OSV, especially in West Africa.
Since these vessels have been incorporated they have logged more than 350 hire days. In 2019, MVXchange had closed pre-seed funding led by Oui Capital and had raised approximately US$100 000 (+/- R1644040.00).
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Since their first round of funding received, the startup has raised even more funding from Founders Factory Africa and Kepple Africa Ventures.
“We’ve received funding from amazing investors and VC’s helping to fuel our growth plans,” said Membere-Otaji.
