Early Days
The journey to building Amitruck, a successful Kenyan logistics start-up started with one of the founders doubling as a truck driver while schooling abroad.
Mark Mwangi had to drive a truck at night making deliveries from London’s Heathrow Airport to pay his Master’s tuition fees. He explained the importance of the experience “Having driven a truck myself, I know what a really nice, automated trucking system looks like. I could see how much room there is to improve efficiency and the way we do things in Africa.” Mark knew that experience was a learning curve but he acknowledges that he didn’t know the experience would shape his future career in fundamental ways.
Launched in 2019 by Mark and Timothy Mwangi, Amitruck is a trucking logistics marketplace. Kenya’s Amitruck came into existence intending to solve the disruptions caused by an uncertain network of road transport. Amitruck connects shippers with transporters operating trucks, vans, tuk-tuks (three-wheelers), pickups, and motorbikes, allowing them to negotiate the rates of haulage. The platform also lets shippers customize services, for example, to add off-loading charges. The platform includes a transporter’s rating and the mean number of trips made, data that helps shippers narrow down their choices. The process begins once both parties reach an agreement.
The startup began in Kenya and with great success, it plans to expand its services. The company’s P2P(Purchase-to-Pay) business model has enabled it to create a big name in the African logistics marketplace.
Growth
Amitruck’s database consists of over 8,000 vehicles, which have in over the years completed almost 100,000 deliveries for more than 300 corporate clients. Consequently, its revenue grew by 1,000 percent in 2021. The startup is now eyeing market dominance in the African trucking and logistics market, which accounts for almost 80 percent of transported goods.
Funding
In 2021, Amitruck secured an ‘undisclosed’ undisclosed pre-seed investment from US-based investors Dynamo Ventures and Plug and Play Ventures. Several angel investors from Amitruck’s advisory board with a background in supply chain and logistics have also participated in the deal.
Amitruck was selected out of over 1,000 applicants to join the sixth cohort of Google for Startups Accelerator: Africa. In 2021, the logistics startup received an equity-free cash award from the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund, which helps Black-led startups in Africa, Brazil, Europe, and the United States secure funding, strengthen communities, and create generational change. During the Accelerator program, the Amitruck team gained technical knowledge to improve the speed and accuracy of their app and ensure cargo trucks efficiently carry full loads.
In 2022, Amitruck banked $4 million in seed funding to lay grounds for expansion across Africa and expand its team across key functions, including sales, engineering, and customer success. The funding was led by Better Tomorrow Ventures (BTV), with the participation of Dynamo Ventures, Rackhouse Venture Capital, Flexport Inc, Knuru Capital, Launch Africa Ventures, Uncovered Fund, and a number of angel investors.
