Lori Systems, an African on-demand logistics and trucking company digitizing haulage and providing shippers with solutions to manage their cargo and transporters, has raised a pre-Series B round in which Google participated along with other existing investors.
Google’s investment comes from its $50 million Africa Investment Fund targeted at Africa’s early- and growth-stage startups, which the company CEO Sundar Pichai announced last October.
In Africa, more than $180 billion is spent annually on haulage, and logistics account for more than 70% of a product’s price, according to reports. For comparison, it’s 6% in the U.S. The influence of logistical operations on products leads to various problems for operators, from inconsistent pricing, which stems from a fragmented supply and demand market, to paper documentation and little or no access to financing.
Companies like Lori solve such problems and reduce costs with their on-demand logistics and trucking marketplaces, which connect shippers to transportation, help them move cargo, extend working capital facilities and provide them with software to manage their operations.
Lori, in a statement, said it has helped thousands of shippers and carriers move over $10 billion worth of cargo across the continent since launching in 2016.
Source: Techcrunch
