When it comes to overseas shipping, African merchants confront several problems, ranging from logistics and customs to hidden and unnecessary taxes.
Digital forwarders on the continent have emerged to address these supply chain issues. They’re aiming after Flexport, the $8 billion freight industry leader; some have dubbed themselves “Flexible Gateways to Africa.”
One such firm is Topship, which just graduated from YC and secured US$2.5 million within a few months of closing the YC winter. Its primary investor is Flexport. Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Starling Ventures, Olive Tree Capital, Capital X, and True Capital are among the other investors.
Mercury CEO Immad Akhund and Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi are among the individual investors in this round.
When co-founder and CEO Moses Enenwali noticed a surge in merchant demand for packages and commodities delivered outside of Nigeria amid a pandemic in 2020, he founded Topship.
After working with transportation business ACE Logistics and e-commerce service provider Sendbox, he developed contacts with these merchants. Demand remained consistent over his time with both organisations, from 2015 to 2020, but not this time.
“The globe has come to a halt, yet the strong demand for this item and the demand for international shipping is increasing at the same time.” “This is fascinating,” I remarked. It’s not a firm like us, Enenwali told TechCrunch over the phone, but it does assist these folks move things quickly and efficiently.
Throughout 60% of flying cargo is handled in passenger cabins around the world, which is one reason why air freight enterprises are affected to some level.
Starting anew with air freight is easier than starting over with marine freight. Going through this route makes even more sense for Enenwali because the passenger flights are already half-filled for the most of 2020. Topship, with Junaid Babatunde as CTO, was released in March 2021 after months of repeat.
Topship claims to desire to make it as simple as possible for African businesses to import and export packages and items for their global clients, suppliers, and distributors.
Companies like SoteSEND and OnePort365 are working to enhance the entire shipping experience in Africa. Topship, on the other hand, had high hopes: “its objective is to make the transportation experience in Africa as smooth and stress-free as booking an Uber trip,” according to a statement.
The concentration on air cargo, even while others investigate the mix of air, sea, and trucking pioneered by Flexport, might work in its favour.
To read our blog on “Oware, a Pakistani startup, has raised $3.3 million in pre-seed funding” click here.
