Middle Eastern logistics startup TruKKer, armed with a fresh capital inflow of $100 million, is scripting an ambitious global expansion, with immediate plans to foray into the East European region and CIS countries.
The UAE-based venture – a probable candidate for becoming the next unicorn from the country– is also learnt to be seriously considering an acquisition to accelerate its growth plans and an announcement could be expected soon.
TruKKer chief operating officer (COO) Anish Garg, however, told Arabian Business: “We are open to strategic M&A (merger and acquisition) but no specific confirmation till date.”
TruKKer raised $100 million last week from a clutch of investors, including Bahrain-based asset manager Investcorp and Abu Dhabi wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co.
The startup’s latest round of fundraising was done ahead of its planned listing.
On the expansion plans, Garg said the fresh fund infusion would see the company again follow the model of ‘following the cargo’ which includes CIS countries and Eastern Europe.
“These two regions will be the next focus areas for the company,” Garg revealed.
The TruKKer COO, however, ruled out entering into tie-ups for the proposed new market forays.
“No tie-ups as such but we have the support of the global clients and their supply chains wherever we go. This is based on TruKKer’s strong operational execution understanding,” Garg said.
Garg said the venture’s focus remained conquering and deepening its business penetration – both on demand and supply side – in the local core markets, while it champion lanes across other new markets
“We follow the cargo. We figure out lanes where there are huge inefficiencies where a technology-based, sound operational capability solution like Trukker can penetrate and optimize,” he said.
TruKKer’s plans to foray into the CIS and East European countries come after the venture entered Oman, Jordan and Bahrain this year.
The logistics venture also expanded to Turkey, which it sees as one of its core markets from where it is delivering cargo to more than 20 countries.
“We will now use the same ‘UAE-Saudi Arabia-Egypt’ core market and expansion mindset to Turkey as well,” Garg said.
Ahead of the listing plans, TruKKer is also recalibrating its business model which will see the venture focusing more on value growth, alongside the volume play.
“We are proud that we have the biggest FMCG companies, biggest steel producers and biggest construction material companies as our clients.
“We [now] hope to further penetrate this by increasing our share of wallet,” Garg said.
He said the venture always tried to manage both – volume and value.
“We have been financially prudent and remain so. Probably this is one of the reasons that Trukker enjoys investor confidence,” he said.
On the venture’s listing plans, Garg said a lot of things have to go right in order to achieve this goal.
“We are working super hard to ensure Trukker is up to speed. The timing, place etc has to be carefully considered by getting advice from our advisors and shareholders,” he said
“But this is definitely not in 2022,” the TruKKer COO added.
The UAE-born, Saudi-headquartered startup currently operates in eight countries including Saudi Arabia, Oman and Turkey.
The company manages a network of over 45,000 trucks through its platform that matches shippers and freight carriers.
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