TruKKer Secures $96M in Series B
The Saudi-headquartered digital freight network serving the Middle East and Central Asia, TruKKer raises $96M in a mix of Equity and Debt financing with regional and global backing, positioning the startup as a rising star in the T&L space across EVMs.
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Saudi-headquartered and digital freight network TruKKer raised $96M in a mix of Equity and Debt Series B financing. The equity round was led by ADQ and Riyadh-based Saudi Technology Ventures(STV) with the participation of Mubadala. Existing investors including the Public Investment Fund-backed Riyad Taqnia Fund and Shorooq Partners also took part, according to a statement on Monday. As part of the financing round, the company also raised $50M in venture debt from Mars Growth, a Liquidity Group and MUFG joint venture fund, and San Francisco-based Partners for Growth, backed by the Silicon Valley Bank.
Since its inception in the B2B space in 2018, TruKKer has grown to become the largest digital freight platform in the Middle East and Central Asia region, bringing together a fleet of 40,000+ trucks and 700+ enterprise customers across 8 countries. The deal follows a $23 million equity raise by TruKKer in 2019, which was one of the largest Series A funding rounds in the region at the time.
The Transport & Logistics (T&L) sector took off in 2021 as recorded in our State of Startup Funding- 2022 Emerging Venture Markets Report, available for download. Observing a 158% YoY increase in VC investment across MENA in 2021, the T&L space is becoming one of the most anticipated sectors coming out from the region. On one hand, it was sizable investments in Egypt-based Halan and Swvl, UAE-based iMile, and Lyve Global, as well as other leading Q-commerce, Freight Management, and Asset-Light Courier solutions across MENA. On the other, it was the VC ecosystem’s interest and urge to digitally transform what was traditionally a “Paper, Pen, and Spreadsheet” sector. In light of that, solutions like Egypt-based Trella and Algeria-based Yassir are emerging with courier solutions that can be booked through a phone, while other startups like Rabbit, Breadfast, and YallaMarket are emerging with on-demand delivery solutions with a delivery window that spans 10-30 mins only. This being said, the latest funding round grounds the T&L sector as one of the most anticipated industries in 2022.
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The TruKKer platform weaves a central layer of control and transparency and crystallizes the disparate parts of the industry. "Through this information web, we create unparalleled business availability while organizing, optimizing, and redefining standards for the land freight market. Our products focus on simplicity with sophisticated back-end algorithms that are multilayered for multi-tenanted access in parallel. The sector requires a strong operating business that can demonstrate the use of high-tech solutions to solve multiple simple and complex issues at the same time." said Pradeep Mallavarapu, TruKKer Co-Founder and CTO.
As the T&L startup adopts aggressive expansion strategies, this Series B funding round followed their pioneering acquisition of Pakistan-based Trucksher to access yet another critical South Asian Market. The success of TruKKer’s fast expansion could be attributed to its agile approach to market entry as well as a fully equipped data-driven platform that puts technology in the driver's seat. Gaurav Biswas, Founder & CEO, TruKKer elaborated, "TruKKer's growth has been exponential, both in our home markets of KSA & UAE and in new markets across North Africa and Central Asia. This has made our stakeholders believe in our exceptional product innovation, execution abilities, and category leadership. We are constantly improvising on the launch playbook that allows us to rapidly launch new markets followed by scaling our offering in them. At the same time, the core market teams are becoming more data and analytics-driven in business processes to ensure improving user experience, setting standards, and leading the sector’s direction. We are a constantly evolving team with a passion for problem-solving, hunger for growth, and obsession to succeed."
Saudi-headquartered TruKKer will use the money to expand in existing markets across the Middle East and Central Asia in addition to launching new products and features, according to the company’s chief financial officer, Amit Agarwal, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker. Amer Al Ameri, Head of Venture Capital & Technology Investments at ADQ added, “We are strong believers in TruKKer’s technology and team to overhaul the regional logistics sector. This is an opportune time to drive growth in the sector as the world focuses on digitization and technology like never before. TruKKer is a sector leader in the region and aligns with ADQ’s long-term strategy towards sustainable investments in fundamental sectors.” While Ahmad AlNaimi, General Partner at STV concluded, “TruKKer is building a platform that is set to become the de-facto infrastructure for land freight in the region, seamlessly connecting the atoms and the bits, with superior execution and operations. We’ve been part of TruKKer’s journey since 2019 and we’re proud to be doubling down and partnering with ADQ and Mubadala.”
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