Change cargo by car information matching platform + one-stop service.

It was learned that Lori Systems, an African freight platform founded in Kenya in 2017, announced the completion of nearly $30 million in Series A financing, jointly led by Qingliu Capital and Gaochun Capital. The followers include DST’s Apoletto Fund, EchoVC, Timon Capital, Raba VC, Endeavor Catalyst, Flexport CEO and founder of Flutterwave, a Nigerian financial technology company.

Lori founder and CEO Josh Sandler said that this round of financing will be used to upgrade platform technology, build products, operations and management teams. “With the empowerment of data and technology for traditional services, the traditional logistics industry is gradually being Optimized, Lori will use leading Internet technologies across Africa to respond to complex and volatile environments and lead the logistics revolution on the African continent.”

In the traditional mode, the demand side and supply side of the African freight industry have their own pains:

  • The owner’s pain is high in management costs and slow to move: According to the company, more than 90% of the teams in Africa are small fleets of 2-7 trucks, and large shippers may Need to contact 5-10 teams by phone. When Lori’s founder answered the Financial Times interview, he said that it should have been a 13-hour journey, and the driver actually had to ship for a week.

  • Fleet and truck drivers face problems with no money and slow turnaround. Individual truck drivers lack the necessary working capital to get on the road, and the fleet’s cash flow pressure is high. It is also common to have long waits in crowded ports.

  • Businesses on the B side or consumers on the C side have to pay for inefficiencies. According to media reports, the most common mangoes eaten by Kenyans, from farms to supermarket shelves in Nairobi, Kenya, prices rose from 5 shillings (about 0.3 yuan) to 70 shillings (about 4.7 yuan), 25% of the selling price – 40% are spent on shipping.

In the face of the ills of the African freight market, Lori gave two solutions: First, as a vehicle information matching platform, using information technology to improve the matching efficiency between supply, thereby improving the truck Turnover rate, reduce freight costs; secondly, provide one-stop service for shippers and fleets through