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Pakistan-based digital freight marketplace and logistics solutions provider BridgeLinx has successfully raised a stellar $10M in its latest funding round. This SEED round marks Pakistan’s biggest to date surpassing Sada Pay’s $7.2M fundraise earlier this year.
The investment round was led by Harry Stebbings’ 20 VC, Josh Buckley’s Buckley Ventures, and Indus Valley Capital. The round, which was oversubscribed nearly twice over, also recorded participation from key VC and strategic investors including Wavemaker Partners, Quiet Capital, TrueSight Ventures, Soma Capital Strategic, Flexport, Magnus Rausing’s UNTITLED also participated, founders of Convoy and Bazaar, major local cement, textile, automotive & power business groups headlined by Maple Leaf Capital.
As recorded in our latest August 2021 Venture Investment Dashboard, the Pakistani Transport sector observed a 289% growth in funding YoY driven by a record-breaking $85M round raised by Trucking platform Airlift. The Transport sector in Pakistan also recorded its second-ever exit earlier this month with Pakistan-based TruckSher getting acquired UAE-based Trukker. This however comes as part of a general investor inclination towards the movement of people and products in Pakistan, where Delivery & Logistics and Transport startups together, have raised around 40% of all funds invested in 2021 YTD.
Founded by Muhammad Saad, Ahsan Tanveer, Abbas Hassan, and Salman Gul, BridgeLinx connects shippers looking to move freight to carriers such as truckers, owner-operators, transporters, and private fleets. The startup’s Tech-enabled solutions include end-to-end load execution, from matching, dispatching, and port operations to field support, documentation, and payments. As a result of its asset-light and consolidated approach, the Pakistan-based startup is driving revenue for shippers and fleets, creating an optimized network across the country.
In light of this recent investment Salman Gul, Co-founder and CEO stated “With logistics averaging at 10% of GDP globally, deploying technology to optimize and create visibility across global supply chains is a trillion-dollar opportunity. At BridgeLinx, we are on a mission to redefine the way in which businesses manage supply chains – from procurement and shipping to warehousing and distribution. Our journey starts with road freight in Pakistan, and the talent-dense team we are building is incredibly privileged to be backed by some of the best investors from around the world.”
In less than 9 months, BridgeLinx has onboarded thousands of carriers to move freight loads each week for many of the largest local shippers of textile groups, cement manufacturers, agro-businesses, electronics manufacturers, chemicals companies, and virtual marketplaces. More than a fifth of Pakistan’s top 100 exporters actively uses BridgeLinx to move freight. This recent investment comes as market validation for the Pakistani startup's promising potential as Harry Stebbings of 20VC, who co-led the round, highlighted “For me, the best investments combine incredible, category-defining entrepreneurs with macro headwinds. BridgeLinx is just that - a team of phenomenal entrepreneurs operating in a space with limitless potential.”
BridgeLinx plans to utilize its newly acquired funds to consolidate its position as a market leader in road freight in Pakistan by broadening its product stack and expanding across additional verticals, segments, and lanes. Aatif Awan, Managing Partner at Indus Valley Capital concluded “BridgeLinx has cracked the code for making end-to-end freight work in a hassle-free manner and therefore signed up some of the top businesses in Pakistan. We believe this team is well on its way to bring unprecedented efficiencies to the country’s economy and are really excited to partner with them.”
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