RIYADH: TruKKer, a Saudi-based startup offering logistics in the land freight sector, plans to strengthen its operation in the region while expanding into new geographies after raising a Series B fund worth $96 million recently.
“Our immediate goal is to drive growth in current markets as well as expand into Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe countries,” TruKKer Chief Financial Officer Amit Agarwal told Arab News in an exclusive interview.
Founded in 2016, TruKKer currently operates in eight countries with a fleet of over 40,000 trucks integrating demand and supply for land freight services based on real-time data analytics.
TruKKer currently operates in eight countries with a fleet of over 40,000 trucks integrating demand and supply for land freight services based on real-time data analytics. (Reuters/File)
“We harbor very ambitious plans to become the No. 1 digital land aggregator in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region,” he said.
Revenue model
TruKKer uses a digital freight aggregation business model to match supply and demand. It receives the truck demand from clients and then uses a predictive analytics matching system to source available trucks from fleet owners and individual truck owners.
“The spread between our buy (cost paid to the vendor) and sell (invoice amount to clients) represents TruKKer’s margin on a unit trip basis,” Agarwal explained.
He added that TruKKer’s innovation revolves around humancentric problem solving with around 400 members currently working in its team.
Agarwal pointed out that the industry is a large dynamic market governed by strong cross-border trade between Gulf Cooperation Council countries as well as Europe and Asia, and a large landmass with a high population and industrial hubs.
“Trucking, despite being one of the largest employing industries, suffers from huge fragmentation: Lack of standardization in business processes, weak technology adoption, and a fractured set of financial processes that have worked in concert for years,” Agarwal added.
TruKKer’s competition includes other companies that offer a digital freight connecting platform like Egypt-based Trella and UAE-based Trukkin.
Saudi market
TruKKer is betting big on its “home turf” Saudi market as the company expects the Kingdom’s “evolving and forward-looking” regulatory environment in terms of its land transportation space and its Transport General Authority to drive growth.
Agarwal said that the Kingdom acts as a “strategic market” for TruKKer and “one of the key pillars” contributing to the company’s growth.
Our immediate goal is to drive growth in current markets as well as expand into Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe countries.
Amit Agarwal, TruKKer chief financial officer
“In fact, we very much perceive Saudi as TruKKer’s home turf with our principal investors hailing from the Kingdom. Further, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aims to establish the Kingdom as a leading logistics hub in the region,” he said.
The company has been engaging with the stakeholders in the ministries and key government institutions. “We can proudly say that we have been receiving positive support from these stakeholders,” Agarwal said. “They have been very welcoming and recognizing our efforts and passion in infusing greater efficiency and value creation in the land freight ecosystem.”
He revealed that TruKKer is due to be recognized by the TGA as a trucking aggregator. Aggarwal added: “We anticipate similar support from other regulatory authorities in the Kingdom that would help us grow further as a digital land freight provider and expand into multiple service verticals.
“These are indeed exciting times in the Kingdom and TruKKer is privileged to cater to the logistics needs of a diversified portfolio of clients with its ever-expanding service offerings.”
Fundraising
The freight industry has been on the rise for the past couple of years, ranking as the highest-funded industry in Egypt in 2021.
TruKKer raised $1.4 million in a seed round in December 2017, followed by $23 million in a Series A round in November 2019, before raising the highest round in the Middle East and North Africa amounting to $96 million in a Series B in February 2022.
The digital freight platform has so far raised over $100 million in a mix of equity and debt funding since its launch in 2016.
