Nabilah Safira
TechInAfrica – Kobo360, a digital logistics company based in Nigeria, has secured $30 million in a funding round. The funds will be used as part of the G-LOS (Global Logistics Operating System) development to facilitate trading activities in the emerging markets of Africa.
Investors from Asia Africa Investment and Consulting Pte., Nigerian commercial banks, TLcom Capital, Y Combinator, and The International Finance Corporation also joined the series A funding round led by Goldman Sachs.
From the funding, Kobo360 will employ additional 25,000 drivers to their platform, through a bid for the company to meet the intra-African needs of the Africa Free Trade Continental Agreement, along with an ambitious expansion to 10 new countries by the end of 2020. The expansion is set to go beyond their presence in Togo, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria.
Since its launched in 2017 by Obi Ozor and Ife Oyedele II, Kobo has been facilitating goods delivery over 500Mkg, offering services to SMEs and for more than 80 grand enterprises such as Unilever, Dangote Group, and Flour Mills of Nigeria. Kobo has since connected and supporting cargo owners, truck owners, drivers, and cargo recipients with the goal to disrupt Africa’s $150 billion logistics industry in mind.
Co-founder and CEO of Kobo360, Obi Ozor, views the funding round as an opportunity to strengthen their workforce and paved their names in the logistics industry by investing in the necessary resources. According to Ozor, they will focus on nurturing partnership with drivers and planning on having the drivers digitally included in their program, which in turn will enable them to convey goods seamlessly while simultaneously earning more money. Kobo360 has also launched KoPAY, KoboSAFE, and KoboCare, three products that are tailor-made for the drivers’ welfare and promoting education program for the drivers’ families.
Source: techgistafrica.com
