Nairobi-based logistics startup Leta received $5 million in seed funding on Tuesday to build its AI-powered logistics platform.
This investment round was headed by European VC Speedinvest and supported by Google’s Africa Investment Fund and Equator, an Africa-focused climate tech fund.
Leta’s AI platform streamlines businesses’ logistics operations
Leta’s AI-powered platform optimises delivery routes, tracks real-time shipments, and streamlines business logistics operations. By integrating with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Point-of-Sale (POS), and Order Management Systems (OMS), Leta automates tasks such as manifest creation and dispatch planning.
This approach helps reduce the number of vehicles needed for distribution by optimising routes and load methods like FIFO (first-in, first-out) and LIFO (last-in, first-out).
Founder and CEO Nick Joshi explained that the platform’s AI flags problematic routes, such as those affected by flooding or construction, and updates its map layer accordingly. “For example, if there’s a roundabout where trucks or motorbikes repeatedly fail to complete a turn on that route, the AI flags it as a blacklisted route,” Joshi noted.
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Leta’s Scale operations across Africa
With this funding, Leta aims to scale its operations further across Africa. The startup has expanded into five markets: Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It works with major clients like KFC and Diageo, managing over 7,400 vehicles and optimising more than 10,000 daily trips.
Deepali Nangia, who leads Speedinvest’s investments in Africa and the Middle East, highlighted Leta’s potential: “Leta leverages logistics as a gateway and fintech as a growth driver, unlocking new business opportunities”.
Equator’s investment was motivated by Leta’s ability to reduce fleet sizes and lower emissions, with a company saving about $30,000 monthly using Leta’s services.
Leta’s real-time mapping capabilities have also attracted Google’s interest, as it continuously updates road and address data, unlike Google Maps, which hasn’t updated some areas of Nairobi since 2022. This robust mapping is a key asset for Google, one of Leta’s investors.