Nigerian logistics startup Kobo360 has launched its operations in Kenya in its expansion drive in East Africa. The firm aims to foster seamless intra-African trade by connecting and supporting cargo owners, truck owners & drivers, and cargo recipients.
The company has been in beta operation in Kenya for five months and has on-boarded over 3,000 trucks and truck owners. In the country, the company is already working with companies such as Bidco Africa, Union Logistics Limited, Intraspeed ARCPRO Kenya LTD. Bakhresa Group, Rafiki Millers and McNeel Millers.
The regional office will be led by Ms.Kagure Wamunyu. Prior to this, Wamunyu has worked with Bridge International Academies as a senior director strategy, East Africa; and country manager-Kenya at Uber. She did her masters student intern at the United Nations and holds a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
“Kobo360 has a deserved reputation for enabling an agile and connected supply chain, as well as reducing logistics frictions,” said Wamunyu.
“As the largest port in East Africa, Kenya’s Mombasa serves as a gateway to other East African markets. Our presence in Kenya means we are in a position to leverage the nation’s high technology adoption rate in order to fuel logistics in East Africa and beyond. We anticipate strengthening our links across this region, which will bring us closer to building our global logistics operating system (G-LOS) to ensure fast and low-cost movement of goods for businesses on the continent,” she added.
Kobo360 was launched in 2017 by Nigerian entrepreneurs Obi Ozor and Ife Oyedele II. Kobo360 is a technology logistics platform that connects the supply of trucks with the demand for transportation services by cargo owners. Kobo360 also has operations in Uganda, Togo, and Ghana.
In August, the Nigerian freight logistics startup announced that it had raised $20M (Ksh. 2 billion) Series A equity round led by Goldman Sachs, with participation from Asia Africa Investment and Consulting Pte. and existing investors including TLcom Capital, Y Combinator, the International Finance Corporation.
An additional $10M (Ksh. 1B) in local currency working capital financing has been secured from Nigerian commercial banks. In 2019, Kobo360 launched in Uganda, Togo, and Ghana, and was named as “Disrupter of the Year” at the highly acclaimed Africa CEO Forum Awards in 2019.
