A logistics startup known as Cargoz links up SMEs in need of warehouse space with storage companies that have excess space. It’s comparable to AirBnB, but for warehouse and commercial storage. The logistics industry’s leading family offices, RAZ Holding, Innovest Properties, and angel investors have all contributed to the seed funding round, which was spearheaded by Nama Ventures.
Premlal Pullisserry, the CEO, and Lijo Antony, the CTO, founded Cargoz in January 2022. Premlal has more than 20 years of GCC-wide experience in logistics and warehousing.
The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that were most negatively impacted by COVID-19 decided not to sign costly storage contracts or lease warehouses on a yearly basis. They are searching for storage so that they can pay for only the space they use, with either a weekly or monthly billing schedule. Conversely, some owners and operators of warehouses have a lot of extra space that goes underutilized.
These two parties will be connected by the Cargoz platform, which will also help SMEs access on-demand storage on an extremely user-friendly platform.
Cargoz has seen 2,200% monthly active customer growth and 1,700% MoM revenue growth since its mid-seed round in 2022. They have provided services to hundreds of clients and have a sizable amount of space available for active storage in each of the UAE’s emirates.
Cargoz plans to use its seed funding primarily to launch its operation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Q1 of 2024, with the goal of strengthening its regional expansion, beginning with that country.
“I think we underestimated the pain and frustration of finding on-demand storage for SMEs and how broken and stressful that experience was. The kind of growth we have seen in the last several months gives us an indication that we are solving a huge problem that has existed for several decades now. With many software products rolling out in the coming months, we hope to provide the best experience for SMEs that are looking for storage in both the UAE and shortly in Riyadh too,” says Premlal, co-founder and CEO.
“We first led the Cargoz pre-seed round back in June 2022, and we’ve been very impressed with the progress and traction that Premlal and Lijo have achieved in this short time,” said Mohammed Alzubi, founder and managing partner of Nama Ventures. “They’ve been able to demonstrate the significant need that SMEs have for flexible storage. This current round will allow Cargoz to continue supporting its clients in the UAE and also expand to KSA with its innovative smart technology offerings in the warehouse and storage space. We’re truly excited to see what this team has to offer regional SMEs and become their preferred storage partner.”
