Kenyan B2B supply chain and logistics platform, Leta, has raised $3 million in its pre-seed funding round.
The startup announced that the funds were raised from investment firms including 4Di Capital, Chandaria Capital, Chui Ventures, PANI, Samurai Incubate, and Verdant Frontiers Fintech. The fundraise also includes participations from Ken Njoroge, co-founder of Cellulant, as well as Charles Murito – a Google executive.
With the newly raised funds, Leta plans to spread its net to include some of the biggest distributors and e-commerce firms in Ghana and Nigeria, and grow its tentacles out of its current operational countries.
“Our next year is going to be fairly big for us. Our product has stabilized and we have a very good understanding of our sales process and our go-to-market strategy. The capital we have raised will help us to quickly scale into new markets beginning with Ghana, where we will launch in December,” Nick Joshi, Leta founder and CEO.
Currently, Leta operates in a few African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In addition to the startup’s quest for expansion, it is also working on launching a transport marketplace where it’s clients can request additional delivery vehicles due to insufficient fleets.
Leta was founded by Nick Joshi in 2021. After working for two years with US-based marketplace, Delivery.com, Joshi gained enough experience to attempt solving the problems attached with delivery and logistics business. He then returned back to Kenya to start Leta.
Since the startup was founded, Leta has been providing a platform for support and logistics companies like Sendy and Amitruck.
“We are an operating system for logistics, and our software is able to show distributors the most efficient route to serve the customers quicker, and enables them to use less assets (vehicles) to serve more customers. […] It also makes it possible to track the driver, the specific goods carried, the loading of the truck to know if space use is maximized, the time spent during the journey, and distance traveled,” Joshi said.
Leta claims that since its began operations, it has handled 2,000 vehicles, delivered more than 20,000 tons of cargo, and optimized over 500,000 deliveries. Some of the companies that works with Leta include Pan-African fast-food juggernaut, Simbisa Brands; fast-moving consumer goods conglomerate, Chandaria Industries; B2B distribution platform, Twiga; fashion marketplace, ShopZetu; and a number of other companies.