Chargel, a Senegalese logistics technology business, has raised $2.5 million in venture funding to expand its platform and drive African expansion.
The investment was led by Logos Ventures, with participation from Ventures Platform, Foundation Botnar, DFS Labs, Seedstars, and $500,000 in debt. This funding comes on top of a $750,000 investment made last year, bringing the total amount raised to $3.75 million.
As a result of the successful inaugural funding round, the company expects to expand its platform to more shippers in Senegal, and it is considering expanding into another Francophone African country. It is expanding its platform to more customers in its next phase of growth after previously restricting access to ten firms and being backed by seed investment.
Chargel, which emerged from secrecy this year, unites shippers and transporters by digitising hitherto offline activity. Previous clients have included Maersk and Grimaldi, two of the world’s largest shipping companies.
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The startup is set to ensure cargo transportation
“We make sure that shippers focus on their business, and truck drivers focus on driving, and we take care of everything in between,” said Chargel co-founder Moustapha Ndoye, adding that the firm provides transporters with access to additional services such as insurance.
Customers come to us, and we have to transport their goods, so we’re the ones in the middle. “Our goal is to ensure that the cargo gets from point A to point B on time,” he said.
“Demand is not limited to Senegal; some of our clients, such as Maersk, serve nine countries from the Senegalese office.” “Of course, they want us in those countries,” he said.
Senegal-based chargel carriers make delivery to bordering nations Mali, Guinea, and Mauritania. According to Moustapha, establishing complete operations in another nation would improve their regional coverage and alleviate many of the other problems associated with road freight.
How Chargel works
Chargel is more than simply a platform; it speeds up the whole transport process by matching online requests from customers like Maersk with the most appropriate providers (vehicle and driver) from its network of carriers.
Senders can track the goods while they are in transit and get alerts when they arrive. The portal also brings together independent transporters, providing them with new earning streams.
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Key factors to know about the startup
Moustapha and Alioune Ndoye, Chargel’s founders, are Senegalese brothers with a good track record in enterprise, having sold their hospitality tech firm, Teranga, in 2018. In truth, Chargel is the brothers’ fourth business venture since returning home after further education in the United States.
The startup’s founders have a thorough grasp of the logistics business in Senegal and are dedicated to tackling the issues that truck owners and operators confront. According to Moustapha Chargel, they did over $1.2 million in GMV in 2022 and are nearly exceeding that amount this year.
Their strategy is to capitalize on the anticipated commerce boom in Africa. As intra-regional commerce expands, spurred by the African Continental Free Trading Area (AfCFTA), the single biggest unrestricted trading territory in the world, goods demand inside Africa is projected to rise 28% by the end of the decade. Considering African commerce currently depends on road freight transit, this expansion is expected to increase demand for trucking services.
The investors were intrigued by Chargel because of the company’s novel approach to logistics, which eliminates inefficiencies in the transportation industry.