This funding announcement follows Fez Supply’s acceptance as one of many solely two logistics corporations in Nigeria to have acquired funding from Techstars Toronto
Fez Supply, a number one logistics and supply firm, introduced its $1 million seed spherical at the moment.
Ventures Platform led the funding spherical, with participation from Voltron Capital, Acasia Ventures (previously Cairo Angels), and different angel buyers. This funding announcement follows Fez Supply’s acceptance as one of many solely two logistics corporations in Nigeria to have acquired funding from Techstars Toronto, an elite world tech accelerator.
Fez Supply is a number one last-mile logistics startup headquartered in Lagos with hubs throughout the 36 states, together with FCT, in Nigeria. The corporate provides cell and net apps for people and dashboards and APIs for companies, with a bodily attain that spans all 36 states in Nigeria.
Fez Supply was based in 2020 by Seun Alley, as a pivot from her earlier firm which provided janitorial providers to companies however suffered from absenteeism of the janitors as a result of they have been working errands for workers. “We launched a janitorial service firm in 2016. The next yr, we noticed a development of janitors being absent from their responsibility posts as a result of they have been on errands for workers.”, says Seun Alley. “As a stop-gap, we launched supply providers to the businesses we have been working with in order that our janitors may concentrate on their work. It was wildly profitable. This expertise made us realise that last-mile logistics is a big drawback for SMEs and people. We determined to handle this drawback by making a platform that enables companies and people to simply monitor their objects on-line in real-time, with out utilizing a number of logistics companions.”
The logistics trade is among the fastest-growing industries in Nigeria, spurred by the meteoric rise in on-line buying which generated an estimated income of $5 billion in 2019 with an anticipated CAGR of 20.5% from then until now. The scale of this chance has led to the rise of many logistic companies within the nation. But, many battle to distinguish themselves and run a sustainable enterprise.
Fez Supply distinguishes itself out there by providing tailor-made and hybrid options that mix bodily touchpoints with know-how to serve its prospects. “Our learnings during the last seven years have revealed that completely different enterprise priorities exist relating to last-mile supply”, says Seun Alley. “For FinTech, attain is important. For Pharma, the estimated supply time is a giant deal, and the pricing should be aggressive for SMEs. Subsequently, now we have constructed an array of tech-enabled options; cell and net apps (focused at people), dashboards and APIs (for companies) alongside a large bodily attain that spans all of the 36 states in Nigeria, together with the FCT ”.
The three-year-old startup makes cash by charging people per supply, and companies a month-to-month subscription. In 2022, the logistics startup accomplished 200,000 journeys and grew income by 20% month-on-month. Its clientèle contains the likes of Flutterwave, Kuda Financial institution, Moniepoint, OPay, Famasi Africa, and Pink Bull.
Advertising and marketing Supervisor, Redbull Nigeria, Toheeb Azeez, says, “Fez Supply has been a dependable and reasonably priced supply service for our firm, since their inception. They’ve a large attain throughout all of the 774 native governments in Nigeria, which makes it simple for us to get our merchandise to our prospects rapidly and effectively. We’re additionally impressed with their customer support, which is at all times immediate and useful”.
Talking on how they’ll deploy the capital, Seun Alley says that the corporate will proceed its push in direction of leveraging know-how to resolve actual issues. “With this funding, we’re repositioning as a full-fledged tech firm centered on last-mile deliveries. Whereas the platform is presently in improvement, events can signal as much as be part of the waitlist”. The co-founder and CTO, Oluwafemi Jose provides that “our purpose has at all times been to create one thing really transformative. We’re excited to make use of this funding to speed up our innovation; broaden our staff, deepen our improvement efforts and convey extra worth to our prospects and companions.”
Common Accomplice, Ventures Platform Fund, Dotun Olowoporoku says “We’re excited to companion with Fez Supply of their mission to convey effectivity to the logistics trade. This trade is characterised by excessive fragmentation, demand-supply mismatch, and lack of transparency, on account of heavy guide processes. Seun, a second-time founder, is a superb operator with a strong imaginative and prescient for the way forward for last-mile supply. By growing know-how to allow different market gamers to thrive, Fez Supply is well-aligned with our funding thesis to assist market-creating innovation in underserved industries.”
Fez Supply will proceed to deepen its work in Nigeria earlier than contemplating different African markets. “We’re presently centered on the $10 billion transport and logistics market in Nigeria, the place we nonetheless have room to develop. We plan to continue to grow in Nigeria and broaden to different markets beginning within the final quarter of this yr. Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa are on our record, however we haven’t selected the order but”, says Seun Alley.
//Employees author
