Local tech startup Truck It In recently closed a $13 million seed round jointly led by venture capital firms Global Founders Capital and Fatima Gobi Ventures.
According to reports, the seed round is the largest for a logistics startup in the MENAP (Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan) region. It also surpasses any of the funding secured by Pakistani startups in 2021.
Last year, Truck It In closed its pre-seed funding at a total of $4.5 million. It raised $1.5 million in April and raised another $3 million in September. The latest round takes total raised capital to $17.5 million.
Read more: Local startup receives mega funding of $8.6 million
Based in Karachi, Truck It In was launched in August 2020 by Muhammad Sarmad Farooq, Raza Afzal, and Haider Navid. They previously worked at Careem, the popular ride-hailing service.
Truck It In aims to make freight movement more efficient by connecting truckers and shippers through its online platform. Important to note, Pakistan is one of the largest road freight markets in the Middle East and North Africa, representing a $25 billion annual opportunity.
Pakistan’s Truck It In has raised $13 million in early-stage funding, that's the highest ever for such an investment round in Pakistan | Exclusive https://t.co/zbXS3Q9WDn.
— Faseeh Mangi (@FaseehMangi) February 4, 2022
Muhammad Sarmad Farooq, CEO of Truck It said that the startup will use the funds for expansion, hiring, and increasing digital penetration in the market. He also revealed that the company’s revenue grew 37x last year.
Pakistani startups raised $375M in 2021
2021 was a year of success for Pakistani startups. Last year, they raised about US $375 million while doubling their total investment over the last six years.
In 2021, Pakistani startups gained the largest share of logistics finance at 32%, followed by e-commerce at 27%, fintech at 25%, and tech and health tech, according to data from startup investment advisory platform Alpha Beta Core. Three of the biggest deals of 2021 were: Airlift ($85 million), Bazaar ($30 million), and Tajir ($17 million).
– Pakistani startups raised $375 million in 2021, which is 5 x higher than 2020.
– This is nearly 2 x times more than the last 6 years combined. pic.twitter.com/uJ7JcVC059
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) January 3, 2022
Experts predict that funding will continue to surge in 2022. This is because Pakistan’s huge untapped market has 188 million mobile subscribers, 107 million 3G / 4G users and 110 million Internet users.
Interestingly, the credit goes to Covid for boosting the e-commerce sector. The frequent lockdowns halted in-person operations. As a result, many businesses moved online. Additionally, startups also increased.