African companies pay as much as 4 occasions the worldwide common to move items, driving up costs for necessities like meals and medication. Logistics make up 75% of product prices on the continent, in response to the African Development Bank (AfDB). Many of those companies additionally depend on guide logistics, resulting in delays.
Nairobi-based logistics software-as-a-service supplier Leta needs to alter all of that. Its AI-powered platform optimizes supply routes, tracks shipments in actual time, streamlines funds, and offers companies with transport insights.
The startup has raised $5 million in seed funding to scale its answer, which it says helps companies transfer items cheaper and sooner throughout the continent. European VC agency Speedinvest led the spherical, with backing from Google’s Africa Investment Fund and Equator, an Africa-focused local weather tech fund.
In November 2022, the Kenyan logistics startup raised a $3 million pre-seed from a number of native traders, cash it used to deepen operations in its 5 core markets: Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Leta’s load and route optimization know-how helps its purchasers lower prices and enhance supply effectivity by lowering the variety of autos wanted for distribution, Founder and CEO Nick Joshi explains.
Leta integrates instantly with companies’ ERP, POS, and OMS methods, pulling in stay order knowledge like SKUs, product sorts, costs, and buyer particulars, Joshi says.
From there, the platform selects one of the best accessible car for every order and decides whether or not to load merchandise utilizing first-in, first-out (FIFO) or last-in, first-out (LIFO) strategies, changing guide, intuition-based dispatching. (FIFO masses the oldest stock first, whereas LIFO masses the latest inventory first.)
The platform then automates manifest creation and dispatch planning, optimizing car use based mostly on regional demand and truck capability. Finally, Leta’s system, which, in response to Joshi, is powered by AI, optimizes supply routes in real-time.
“For instance, if there’s a roundabout the place vehicles or motorbikes repeatedly fail to finish a activate that route, the AI flags it as a blacklisted route,” mentioned the CEO. “It could possibly be as a result of flooding, police stops, development, or a presidential convoy. The system continually updates its map layer to replicate these modifications.”
Logistics, embedded finance, and sustainability performs
Leta’s real-time mapping has change into a key asset for Google, certainly one of its traders. Joshi notes that Google Maps hasn’t up to date some areas of Nairobi since 2022, whereas Leta’s platform repeatedly refines street and tackle knowledge sourced from stay buyer deliveries.
“We’re creating a way more sturdy map and tackle structure, which is why I believe Google discovered it attention-grabbing,” he explains.
By connecting stakeholders throughout the availability chain, Joshi sees monetary providers as a pure extension of Leta’s software program platform and is already piloting some new merchandise. Joshi says potential choices embody gas playing cards for supply companions, asset financing for autos and units, and provide chain financing for FMCG retailers.
Deepali Nangia, who leads Speedinvest’s investments in Africa and the Middle East, mentioned the agency backed Leta as a result of it “leverages logistics as a gateway and fintech as a development driver, unlocking new enterprise alternatives.”
Leta additionally helps companies scale back fleet sizes with out chopping deliveries, decreasing gas consumption and emissions, which explains Equator’s backing.
“An organization with 70 vehicles saves about $30,000 month-to-month utilizing Leta,” Joshi claims. “We haven’t began monitoring carbon emissions but, however it’s a key objective for this 12 months.”
The Kenyan startup now powers 35+ main companies, together with world manufacturers like KFC and Diageo, and native giants like EABL and Gilani, optimizing 10,000+ each day journeys throughout its 5 markets.
Since our 2022 protection, Leta has seen large development: 500,000 deliveries to 4.5 million, from shifting 20,000 tons to 150,000, and from managing 2,000 autos to 7,400. As a end result, Leta’s revenues, which it makes on a per-delivery pricing mannequin, have grown 5x, says Joshi.
Leta now goals to double income within the coming months because it expands into extra international locations throughout Africa and the Middle East with purchasers like KFC and Diageo.
Globally, Leta mirrors early Flexport earlier than it shifted into tech-enabled success and asset possession. In Africa, logistics startups like Sendy, Lori (additionally backed by Google) and KOBO360 took an asset-heavy strategy, aggregating vehicles and performing as intermediaries. However, this mannequin has struggled, resulting in current closures and pivots.
Leta takes a special strategy: simply software program. Instead of proudly owning or aggregating property, it companions with corporations that already personal fleets, serving to them increase effectivity and optimize utilization. It’s a playbook different world logistics tech companies like Bringg, Onfleet, and Shipsy additionally comply with.
“The first era of logistics startups in Africa did the exhausting work by educating the market and proving what’s doable,” says Joshi. “By the time we entered, some had been exiting or making an attempt to redefine their enterprise. So we knew then what the market was in search of and what they wanted.”
