Pakistan is one of the largest road freight markets in South-East Asia. This industry has a $25 billion annual opportunity, which is 10% of the national GDP. Eventually, the race to build Pakistan’s largest trucking marketplace has heated up with multiple regional players coming into existence in the past twelve to eighteen months.
One such startup, Truck It In, a Pakistani trucking marketplace digitises businesses to solve pain points faced by SMEs in road freight transport. It simplifies business for the country’s three million SMEs and truckers operating in an increasingly complex and deeply fragmented industry.
Largest seed round in the sector!
The logistics tech startup Truck It In just raised $13 million in seed funding led by venture capital firms Global Founders Capital and Fatima Gobi Ventures. The round also saw participation from Wamda, Picus Capital, Millville, Zayn Capital, i2i Ventures, ADB Ventures, Cianna Capital, Reflect Ventures, and K3 Ventures.
This seed round is the largest in the industry in the MENAP (Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan) region. Already, the Pakistani startups witnessed high investments in 2021. With this investment, the total funds raised by the company is now $17.5 million.
Truck It In will use the funds to expand the business, hire across teams with a focus on engineers to improve the product development and increase the digital penetration in the market.
Muhammad Sarmad Farooq, CEO of Truck It In said, “We are on an exciting journey creating value and solving deep-rooted challenges. In the past year, our revenue has grown 37x, we have expanded into 100+ trade lanes, and added 200 talents, as Truck It In continues to create impact every day. The impact generated allows truckers to lead better economic lives while serving the country.”
Tito Costa, the partner at Global Founders Capital, said, “The team at Truck It In is transforming the logistics industry in Pakistan at an unprecedented pace. We are honored to back them again to expand their coverage further and bring their solution to shippers and truckers across the country. ”
Ali Mukhtar, General Partner of FGV, said, “We believe Truck It In is key to closing this gap by making it easy for SME truckers to streamline operations and compete on a more level playing field while keeping costs competitive and serving as a vital lifeline for Pakistan’s thriving economy. With Sarmad and his team at the wheel, Pakistan’s SMEs are in pole position for a strong, sustainable, digital future.”
Alejandro Montealegre from Millville Opportunities Master Fund said, “We are excited to back Truck It In’s high caliber team who are providing tremendous value to a critical sector of Pakistan’s economy.”
Kalsoom Lakhani, Co-Founder & GP at i2i Ventures, said, “Pakistan’s trucking industry presents an enormous opportunity for innovation & disruption, and we have a deep conviction in the Truck it In team, who are tackling this head-on. We are impressed by their execution and honored to support them on their journey as their investors.”
Faisal Aftab, Co-Founder Zayn Capital, said, “The Truck It In team has exhibited exceptional scaling ability by rapidly capturing significant market share in this fragmented industry. The team has the tenacity to solve problems unique to Pakistan, creating efficiency for customers and suppliers.”
Connects shippers and truckers
Founded by Raza Afzal, Muhammad Sarmad Farooq and Haider Navid in 2020, the company is in the early stage of transforming a critical industry and aims to help over 3 million businesses save $1 billion annually in supply chain inefficiencies.
The Truck It In online platform connects shippers and truckers, thereby making it easy for both parties to work together. The shippers can access a reliable fleet of trucks at competitive pricing with features like live tracking and reports/insights, and truckers will receive instant loads and assurance for return trips.
The startup provides SMEs will the right tools and services and eyes to transform the experiences of shippers and truckers, heralding them into the digital future.
