KENYAN SUPPLY CHAIN AND LOGISTICS SaaS STARTUP Leta RAISES $3M TO SCALE IN THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA
Startup Leta, a Kenyan B2B supply chain and logistics SaaS provider which was launched last year with the aim to optimize fleet management, is at the moment looking for growth opportunities in West Africa, however, this comes as the company scales operation in its existing five markets.
To ensure a low cost and increased competitiveness are achieved, the startup’s proprietary route and load optimization technology are built to boost efficiency in the delivery of goods to customers, while reducing the number of vehicles needed for distribution.
Being backed by a $3 million pre-seed funding, yet in its expansion phase, the subject startup appears to tap some of the biggest distributors and e-commerce player in Ghana, subsequently, Nigeria, as it seeks to grow beyond Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The pre-seed funding saw participation from 4Di Capital, Chui Ventures, PANI, Chandaria Capital, Samurai Incubate, and Verdant Frontiers Fintech. Equally, Cellulant co-founder ‘Ken Njoroge’, and Google executive ‘Charles Murito’ invested too according to a source familiar with the matter.
“Our next year is going to be fairly big for us. Our product has stabilized and we have a very good understanding of our sales process and our go-to-market strategy. The capital we have raised will help us to quickly scale into new markets beginning with Ghana, where we will launch in December”, Leta Founder and CEO, ‘Nick Joshi’, who also cited that work is equally going on a transport marketplace including fintech products.
A SaaS PROVIDER FOR BUSINESSES, LOGISTICS PROVIDERS, AND MARKETPLACE
It’s worth noting that Joshi founded startup Leta after a two-year stint as the VP of product at Delivery.com in the U.S., where he worked with a number of providers to help the marketplace gain last-mile efficiency in more than 35 states. The startup founder made clear he realized how delivery problems are dynamic and will continue to be a challenge across the globe.
The experience gathered inspired him to relocate back home which led to the launch of Leta, as a transformative support for businesses, logistics providers, and marketplace like Amitruck.
Joshi also said: “We are an operating system for logistics, and our software is able to show distributors the most efficient route to serve the customers quicker and enables them to use less assets (vehicles) to serve more customers”.
Adding that, “It also makes it possible to track the driver, the specific goods carried, the loading of the truck to know if space use is maximized, the time spent during the journey, and distance traveled”.
Businesses will be able to measure other vehicle metrics such as speed, idle time, and breaking, among other data points that define efficiency in operations. Hence, haulers deploy the driver app, which shows them all the different stops they need to make, in sequence, and sign off form for proof of delivery. On the other hand, customers receive a web link to track the delivery of their orders.
The subject startup has been able to optimize more than 500,000 deliveries, managed 2,000 vehicles, and delivered over 20,000 tons of goods.
In the meantime, startup Leta is working with a number of businesses understood to be over 20, among are pan-African fast-food giant Simbisa Brands, B2B e-commerce distribution platform Twiga, fashion marketplace ShopZetu, and fast-moving consumer goods conglomerate Chandaria Industries.
“As a leading FMCG player in the region, we are continuously focused on optimizing our business to best service the growing demand. Leta has played a pivotal role in helping us streamline our last-mile distribution, and we’re seeing meaningful savings on our logistics costs in addition to an improved service delivery time. After working closely with the Leta team, we were impressed with the team, the technology they are building, and the scale of the problem they are solving, which prompted our investment from Chandaria Capital”. ‘Darshan Chandaria’, Chandaria Capital CEO said.
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