Nigeria’s Haul247 has raised US $3 million in seed funding to grow its market share in Nigeria, expand to other African markets, hire talent, and develop its technology. Haul247 is an end-to-end logistics tech platform connecting businesses to haulage and warehousing assets in one ecosystem.
During the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020, Sehinde Afolayan, Tobi Obasa, and Akindele Phillips founded Haul247, a marketplace that links businesses with shippers and storage, cutting transportation costs and maximizing effective asset use.
The business, which already operates over 1,000 trucks and has 151,000 square meters of warehouse space spread across several locations, is now poised for further expansion after securing a US $3 million seed round.
The round included debt financing from Investment One in addition to being led by Alitheia Capital through its uMunthu Fund. The investment comes after a pre-seed funding round in 2021, and Haul247 was chosen as one of the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund recipients the previous year.
This round of funding, according to CEO Afolayan, will allow the company to firmly establish itself as Africa’s equivalent of Airbnb for trucks and warehouses.
“Africa’s logistics sector continues to be hampered by a lack of supporting infrastructure, bottlenecks in service delivery, and a widespread informal approach to logistics business. Over 80 percent of the market is dominated by informal carriers operating with one to three vehicles,” he said.
“We founded Haul247 to address the supply-demand mismatch in the ecosystem, and this funding will enable us to optimise logistics service delivery in key African markets. With the support of our investors, we will expand to new markets, recruit more talent and develop our technology to make logistics even more accessible and efficient for businesses in Africa.”
Alitheia Capital’s managing partner, Tokunboh Ishmael, stated that her company was thrilled to be at the forefront of optimizing logistics service delivery in important African markets because trade and commerce were important levers for advancing development.
“Our investment further enables Haul247 to provide a seamless logistics solution for transporting and storing goods across the continent in a way that unlocks value and amplifies impact for individuals and companies throughout the value chain,” she said.
