In the Pakistani tech ecosystem marked by growing investor caution and lack of enthusiasm, one startup is literally keeping the wheels going. Karachi-based B2B logistics and fintech company Trukkr has raised close to $10 million in a mix of equity and debt, signaling both investor confidence and the startup’s endurance in digitising freight logistics in Pakistan.
The funding round included participation from Yango Group, the global logistics and mobility player operating in over 30 countries. Yango invested through its $20 million venture capital arm Yango Ventures. The rest of the round includes contributions from private investors, including Swiss backers. The company has chosen to keep the identity of investors in the round confidential.
The company didn’t want to announce their fundraise. In fact, it took quite a lot of convincing to get them to agree. For a startup that prefers steering clear of headlines, Trukkr’s story is one of deliberate growth, strategic prudence, and business fundamentals over buzzwords. While much of the local startup ecosystem has been driven by a blitz of marketing, Trukkr’s approach has been to build quietly and scale steadily.
In an exclusive conversation, the founder emphasized their focus on operating a real business rather than chasing valuations or vanity metrics. “We’ve always been about building a sustainable company. We aren’t here for a two-year run. Logistics is a long game especially in Pakistan,” he said.
With Pakistan’s trucking freight logistics sector historically deeply fragmented, Trukkr launched with a Transport Management System (TMS) which enables shippers to seamlessly find trucks, and truckers to find loads conveniently and digitally. On top of it, they embedded financial services which provide working capital loans and payments support for truckers. The content in this publication is expensive to produce. But unlike other journalistic outfits, business publications have to cover the very organizations that directly give them advertisements. Hence, this large source of revenue, which is the lifeblood of other media houses, is severely compromised on account of Profit’s no-compromise policy when it comes to our reporting. No wonder, Profit has lost multiple ad deals, worth tens of millions of rupees, due to stories that held big businesses to account. Hence, for our work to continue unfettered, it must be supported by discerning readers who know the value of quality business journalism, not just for the economy but for the society as a whole.To read the full article, subscribe and support independent business journalism in Pakistan
