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UAE-based on-demand truck aggregator Trukker has raised $23 million in one of the largest Series A funding rounds in the Middle East.
Trukker is a digital marketplace for land freight based in the UAE. The financing round was led by Saudi Technology Ventures (STV), a $500-million Saudi technology venture capital fund that previously invested in the UAE-based ride hailing company Careem, which was later acquired by Uber for $3.1 billion in March.
The other major investors include International Finance Corporation (IFC), Endeavor Catalyst Fund and Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP).
The company will use the funding to expand operations including growing the team, enhancing customer experience and strengthening its operating infrastructure across the road freight network in the region, a statement said.
“The latest funding round will be instrumental as we target significant strengthening of our operations, infrastructure, expansion of our team and further enhancements to our technology and research and development,” said Gaurav Biswas, founder and CEO of Trukker.
Trukker currently operates in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the rest of the GCC and is in the process of expanding to Egypt, Jordan and the wider Middle East region.
“The latest funding round will be instrumental as we target significant strengthening of our operations, infrastructure, expansion of our team and further enhancements to our technology and research and development,” said Biswas.
Founded in 2016, Trukker has more than 15,000 member trucks servicing more than 200 clients, according to the statement.
Trukker allows instant booking, real time demand and supply matching, digital price discovery, cargo tracking, and digitisation of document processing of land freight.
“Trukker is bringing efficiency to a logistics market that is ripe for disruption. Adoption for a digital freight platform has grown significantly. There is substantial demand from customers for better freight management, driven by data and information all situated in one platform,” Ahmad Al Naimi, investment principal of STV, said.
“Trukker has all the attributes to become a leader in the Middle East land transportation sector and will use this funding to go after the regions’ logistics sector, which is set to reach $66 billion by 2020,” Al Naimi added.
The capital raised would make the Trukker deal the fourth largest Series A on record for the Middle East, according to data from research firm Magnitt.
The average venture investment in delivery and transport projects in the region is $2.9 million year-to-date, Magnitt had stated in one of its reports.
(Writing by Seban Scaria; Editing by Mily Chakrabarty)
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