Pakistani fintech startup Trukkr raises $6.4 million, gets lending license

KARACHI, Pakistan, March 7 (Reuters) – Trukkr, a fintech platform for Pakistan’s trucking industry, said on Tuesday it had raised $6.4 million in a funding round and also received a non-banking business (NBFC) licence.

Trukkr offers Pakistan’s small and medium trucking companies a transportation management system and supply chain solutions, and is unique in offering fintech to digitize the largely unbanked and undocumented industry.

The seed funding round was led by US-based Accion Venture Lab and London-based Sturgeon Capital. Haitou Global, Al Zayani Venture Capital and investor Peter Findley also participated in the round, Trukkr said in a statement.

The company’s business model is similar to Kargo in Indonesia, Solvento in Mexico and Kobo 360 in Africa, but is adapted to the market in Pakistan.

Trukkr said less than 5% of trucking companies using the platform have access to financial services, often having to wait up to 90 days for payments and leaving them unable to cover expenses such as fuel, tolls and truck maintenance.

Sheryar Bawany, Trukkr CEO and co-founder, told Reuters they were looking to launch financial products with a “reasonable risk-adjusted spread” to the benchmark Karachi Interbank Offered Rate (KIBOR).

Co-founder Mishal Adamjee said there are around 20,000 drivers on Trukkr’s platform, which serves 100 of the largest companies in the country, including Shan Foods, Artistic Milliners, International Industries Limited and Lucky Cement.

Adamjee told Reuters that Pakistan’s $35 billion annual trucking industry is growing at 10% annually despite limited rail and water shipping infrastructure.

Investor Accion Venture Lab said the Covid pandemic had shown how much the world relied on global supply chains.

“We want to bet on a company that strives to tackle inefficiencies in a market filled with opportunity,” the statement said.

According to the Pakistan Board of Investments, projected demand for freight transport will double by 2025 and sixfold by 2050 to 600 billion freight tonne kilometers, especially when the China Pakistan Economic Corridor starts.

Other freight marketplace startups in Pakistan include Truck It In, BridgeLinx and Freightix.

Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Kirsten Donovan

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