Nigerian logistics startup Topship has raised a US$2.5 million funding round as it continues to build the “Flexport for Africa”.
Launched in June 2020, Topship allows African businesses to export and import cargo, freight and parcels to their suppliers, distributors and customers at any location worldwide.
The startup says it is building “Flexport for Africa”, and it has now raised a US$2.5 million seed round with Flexport, the world’s largest digital freight forwarder, among the investors. Also investing are Y Combinator (Topship is in the W22 batch), Soma Capital, Starling Ventures, Olive Tree Capital, True Capital, Capital X and angel investors including Mercury founder Immad Akhund and Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi.
Topship said the funding would fund its mission of making the shipping experience in Africa as easy and stress-free as booking an Uber ride. In the past quarter, the startup has served over 1,000 and recorded around 50 per cent month-on-month revenue growth.
“With this seed capital, we intend to grow fast and remain asset-light. We are investing in strategic partnerships and product innovation tailored to solve a myriad of shipping problems we’ve identified through daily interactions with SMBs, and we are building proprietary global shipping infrastructure and technology to make imports/exports significantly faster, easier, and more affordable for Africans,” said Moses Enenwali, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Topship.
“We owe our growth and the resulting investor interest to the retail, e-commerce, and social commerce businesses that trust us every day to move items from their stores/homes to their customer’s doorsteps, anywhere in the world.”