Trukkr Raises $6.4 Million in Seed Funding, Receives NBFC License

Pakistan’s trucking industry startup, Trukkr, has raised $6.4 million in a seed funding round and has been granted a Non-Banking Financing Company (NBFC) license, according to a recent Reuters report. The funding round was led by US-based Accion Venture Lab and UK-based Sturgeon Capital, with participation from Haitou Global, Al Zayani Venture Capital, and investor Peter Findley. Trukkr’s CEO and co-founder, Sheryar Bawany, stated that the company plans to launch financial products with a “reasonable risk-adjusted spread” to the benchmark Karachi Interbank Offered Rate (KIBOR).

The startup currently has approximately 20,000 drivers on its platform, serving 100 of Pakistan’s largest companies, including Shan Foods, Artistic Milliners, International Industries Limited, and Lucky Cement. Despite limited rail and water freight infrastructure, Pakistan’s $35 billion trucking industry is growing at a 10 percent annual rate, according to Trukkr’s co-founder, Mishal Adamjee.

The NBFC license is expected to help Trukkr offer easier access to financial services and enable trucking companies to cover various expenses, such as fuel, tolls, and truck maintenance. Accion Venture Lab, commenting on their investment in the Pakistani startup, expressed confidence in Trukkr’s potential to tackle inefficiencies in a market filled with opportunities, as the Covid pandemic highlighted the world’s dependence on global supply chains.

Trukkr’s business model is similar to Kargo in Indonesia, Solvento in Mexico, and Kobo 360 in Africa, but it has been tailored to the Pakistani market. The company provides a transport management system and supply chain solutions to Pakistan’s small and medium-sized trucking companies and is unique in offering fintech to digitize the largely financially excluded and undocumented industry.