Nigerian logistics startup Kobo360 is to expand its operations to Accra, Ghana and Nairobi, Kenya as it continues its recent rapid expansion.
Launched in July 2016, Kobo360 enables individuals and businesses to request or schedule pickup of packages, and track the driver until its final destination.
The startup raised two funding rounds totalling US$7.2 million last year from investors including the IFC, YCombinator, WTI, Cardinal Stone Partners, Chandaria Capital and TLcom in order to scale, and started that process with a launch in Togo in January.
It has now announced plans to expand into Ghana and Kenya as it seeks to build a global logistic operating system [G-LOS] that will power trade and commerce across Africa and other emerging markets. Kobo360 is currently rolling out a beta operation in Ghana, recording over 100 trips and collaborating with clients such Olam Ghana, and expects to test the Kenyan market further in the coming weeks.
Kobo360 already covers over 80 per cent of Nigeria and has recorded a 40 per cent cost reduction in the supply chain. It now plans to aggressively extend to other key markets and expects to be in nine African countries before the end of 2019.
“We estimate that Africa needs 10 times the number of trucks to meet short-term commercial transport needs, since rail continue to underperform. Time, cost and quality are key drivers of success in logistics which is why we, at Kobo360, are building a G-LOS that will ensure fast movement of goods at a lower cost for businesses across Africa,” said the startup’s co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) Ife Oyedele.
“Kenya is the hub of East Africa, it is the most innovative market in technology and if we win here, we have won across the region. From here we will expand to Uganda and Tanzania. By adding Ghana to our West African territories of Togo and Nigeria, we will link all the market to a global logistics system and this will help us to serve our customers across a seamlessly lined pan-African market. By this we create value to our customers as we are in all the key countries in the continent.”
