Pakistan's Fintech Platform Trukkr Raises USD 6.4M and Receives NBFC License

Trukkr, a fintech platform for Pakistan's trucking industry, announced on Tuesday that it had raised $6.4 million in a funding round and received an NBFC licence.

Trukkr provides a transport management system and supply chain solutions to Pakistan's small and medium-sized trucking companies, and is unique in providing fintech to digitise the largely unbanked and undocumented industry.

Accion Venture Lab in the United States and Sturgeon Capital in London led the seed funding round. Trukkr said in a statement that the round was also attended by Haitou Global, Al Zayani Venture Capital, and investor Peter Findley.

The company's business model is similar to Kargo in Indonesia, Solvento in Mexico and Kobo 360 in Africa, but has been adapted to the market in Pakistan.

According to Trukkr, less than 5% of trucking companies using its platform have access to financial services, with many having to wait up to 90 days for payments, leaving them unable to cover expenses such as fuel, tolls, and truck maintenance.

Trukkr CEO and co-founder Sheryar Bawany told Reuters that the company plans to launch financial products with a "reasonable risk adjusted spread" to the benchmark Karachi Interbank Offered Rate (KIBOR).

According to co-founder Mishal Adamjee, there are approximately 20,000 drivers on Trukkr's platform, serving 100 of the country's largest companies, including Shan Foods, Artistic Milliners, International Industries Limited, and Lucky Cement.

Adamjee told that Pakistan's $35 billion a year trucking industry is growing at 10 per cent annually despite limited rail and water freight infrastructure.

Accion Venture Lab, an investor, stated that the Covid pandemic demonstrated how much the world relied on global supply chains.

"We want to bet on a company that is tackling inefficiencies in a market full of opportunities," the company said in a statement.

According to Pakistan's Board of Investment, freight transport demand will double by 2025 and more than sixfold by 2050, reaching 600 billion freight tonnes-kilometer, especially as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor comes online.

Truck It In, BridgeLinx, and Freightix are three other freight marketplace startups in Pakistan.