Cloudfret, a platform for the use of empty trucks, has successfully raised $1 million. The funding came from Plug and Play, PRC Ventures ICAV, Azur Innovation Fund, AfriMobility, and business angel Khalid Zitouni, thereby boosting the startup’s current valuation to $20 million.

“This fundraising demonstrates the trust placed in the Cloudfret team and the market potential. Cloudfret is seeing three-digit growth: the revenue generated in the first quarter of 2022 is equal to that of the fiscal year 202,” founder Driss Jabar said in a statement.

The funding will enable the startup to expand further in the European and African markets. The company also hopes to use the funds raised to increase the number of staff and achieve 10,000 operating trucks by 2022, while also launching new loyalty services.

Read also Senegal-based Fleet Management Startup, Fleeti, Secures $1.1m In Seed Funding 

A Look At What The Startup Does

Driss Jabar founded Cloud Fret in 2021 as a transport and logistics company that connects truck loaders and carriers. Jabar said the idea for this freight transportation platform came from observing that many trucks traverse many kilometers empty.

Cloudfret uses artificial intelligence technology to detect empty cargo vehicles and direct them to goods to be transported, hence minimizing empty truck returns between between Europe and Africa, the same carpooling idea as Blablacar.

“That is to say, kilometers during which the truck has no load and, as a result, the driver is not paid and pays his fuel bill,” Jabar said. 

The platform not only benefits loaders and transporters, but it also allows their partners to expand their operations while shortening delivery times. While doing all these, the startup provides real-time updates on the cargo’s journey.

Read also Why Mobility 54 Backed Nigerian Freight Management Startup OnePort 365 In $5M Seed Round

Cloudfret has already secured 58 regular freight customers in Europe and Africa (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, and Senegal) and plans to deploy 4,000 vehicles by 2021.

“Our work in the field has enabled us to launch today a B2B SaaS Marketplace that offers the best transport offers and a broader range of services: FastPay payment after delivery, fuel card with discount and deferred payment, and cargo insurance at the best price on the market,” Driss Jabar says, adding that “other large-scale investments are in the closing phase.”

Cloudfret trucks

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh