Truck It In, a trucking marketplace based in Karachi, announced today that it has raised an additional $3 million in an extension of its pre-seed round, bringing the total to $4.5 million. According to the startup, this is the largest ‘pre-seed round’ ever raised by a trucking startup. Truck It In raised $1.5 million in less than five months. At $4.5 million, it is the region’s largest pre-seed round.
Global Founders Capital and Fatima Gobi Ventures led the transaction, which also included Picus Capital of Germany and Pakistan’s Zayn Capital (which had also participated in the previous deal).
Through its online platform, Truck It In connects shippers and truckers, making it simple for both parties to conduct business. Shippers gain access to a dependable fleet of trucks at competitive rates, complete with features such as live tracking and reports/insights, while truckers receive instant loads and backhaul assurance (return trips).
When asked why they needed to raise additional capital just five months after raising one of the largest pre-seed rounds in the country (at the time) that they had seen a much faster uptake from the market [than they anticipated] and needed to scale quickly.
The race to build Pakistan’s largest trucking marketplace has intensified, with multiple regional players (who have raised tens of millions of dollars) expanding into the country and vying for market share against at least ten local startups that launched in the last twelve to eighteen months. As Truck It In’s CEO points out, the latest investment is aimed at assisting the company in moving quickly and capturing the lion’s share.
He stated in a statement, “We are in the early stages of transforming a critical industry and aim to assist over 3 million businesses in saving $1 billion per year in supply chain inefficiencies.” Our long-term goal is to streamline and digitize the logistics industry, which will have a beneficial effect on the rest of the economy.”
“In only a few months since launch, we have seen an overwhelming market response to Truck It In’s offering,” said Tito Costa, Partner at Global Founders Capital. We are honored to strengthen our commitment to the team and assist them in scaling even faster to capitalize on this opportunity in Pakistan.”
“Our thesis has been well-placed in Truck It In’s team to streamline Pakistan’s legacy trucking sector and drive rapid growth in the business,” Ali Mukhtar, General Partner at Fatima Gobi Ventures, said. We have faith in their ability to expand throughout Pakistan and beyond.”