Trukker, the Abu Dhabi-headquartered largest digital freight network in the Middle East and North African markets, has struck a deal to acquire Trucksher, a Pakistan-based digital freight booking platform.
The acquisition deal – a first for the UAE and Saudi-backed start-up venture for geographic expansion – is part of Trukker’s ambitious plans to foray into the Pakistan land freight sector, a senior executive of the company told Arabian Business.
However, he declined to reveal details about the cost of acquisition although he said funding would come from its internal resources.
Trucksher, which started operations in Pakistan earlier this year, has raised seed investment from Sarmayacar, a leading venture capital of the country.
Within a short space of time, the venture has spread its operations in the domestic long haul sector of the country. It currently has a presence in Karachi and Lahore and has plans for expansion across major industrial zones and ports in Pakistan, developing a strong client base into commodities, FMCG and electronics sectors.
“We have been doing our feasibility and analysis of the Pakistan land freight sector for some time now and are very excited with the opportunity it [acquisition of Trucksher] offers to digitisation and adaptation of technology in this fragmented and traditional sector,” Anish Garg, Trukker’s chief operating officer, said.
“We are glad to assist the Trucksher team to further accelerate their trajectory to continue leading the land freight sector in Pakistan fuelled by our advanced engineering products and processes,” Garg added.
Trucksher currently has a presence in Karachi and Lahore and has plans for expansion across major industrial zones and ports in Pakistan.
Garg also said a strong team, which is focussed on growth, operational excellence and is passionate about the opportunity that technology offers to create long term efficiencies was key to succeed in a new market.
For Trukker, the acquisition will help to get a head start in Pakistan, and probably also in Afghanistan as Truksher offers its services to logistic and supply chain companies in that country, though the situation there remains fluid after the recent US military withdrawal.
Trukker, founded by Gaurav Biswas and Pradeep Mallavarapu, raised $23 million in Series A funding round led by STV, a $500m Saudi technology venture capital fund, in November 2019, which was to be partly used for its regional expansion plans.
The venture is also backed by the Riyad Taqnia fund, IFC and the sovereign funds of Abu Dhabi, amongst others.
Trukker currently operates a fleet of over 35,000 trucks across its primary markets of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, and other gulf economies. Since its foray in the enterprise land freight sector four years ago, Trukker’s ground operations are currently spread across 17 locations in the MENA region.
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