NIGERIA – Berlin-based venture capital firm GreenTec Capital Partners has invested an undisclosed amount in Nigerian intercity transport- and logistics-tech company T40 that is building solutions to assist mobility service providers in providing better service to their clients and increasing income.
T40 has developed solutions designed to help mobility vendors attract and retain customers with the company’s point-of-sale consoles and logistics platform. It also offers entertainment centres that can be personalized to improve ride quality and provide an additional marketing channel.
“With our digitized products, transport companies can achieve more profit margin and the customers a pleasurable experience,” said Folarin Olulana, CEO and co-founder of T40.
T40’s solutions go end-to-end with a client facing app that makes it easier for riders to plan and buy their routes.
“Driven by population growth and urbanization, logistics and intercity transport have always been important to Nigeria and Africa’s economic growth. T40 presents a customer-driven solution that leverages technology to delight commuters and transport operators alike,” said Tomi Davies, GreenTec’s chief investment officer.
T40 also offers personalizable entertainment centers to improve ride quality and provide an additional marketing channel. T40’s innovative solutions position the company well to scale within Nigeria and beyond as the African intercity transportation and logistics industry rises to meet the emerging demand.
The African continent has one of the world’s highest rates of urbanization. A lot of economic variables are driving this urbanization, the most prominent of which being young people commuting to work in urban areas. Intercity transportation services in Nigeria and across Africa struggle to recruit and keep clients in a fragmented market.
Intercity, the web and mobile-based customer-facing platform of T40, aggregates these partner transport companies and allows potential travellers to access desired routes, book trips or parcel deliveries ahead of time, compare prices of available operators, and get their tickets—all online.
The Intercity solution is crucial in a country where most of the population travels by road. In 2018, Nigeria’s busiest airport recorded just 4.25 million domestic travelers—less than five percent of the population. This highlights how popular road travel is.
T40 has so far partnered with over 40 intercity transport and logistics companies and processed over 6,000 bookings in 2021.
The startup makes money mainly through commissions on transactions (between 1%-10% of the transaction value) while its additional income streams include the white labelling service and adverts on its platforms.
Earlier this year, the startup got the backing of LabEight Africa and Greentec Capital partners. After years of bootstrapping, Olulana revealed that the startup is in the process of raising a $500,000 pre-seed funding.
In the long run, an expansion of its 12-man team and geographical footprint is on the cards. According to the founder and CEO, T40 has run a pilot in Kenya and is also considering other markets, including Tunisia, Ghana, and Zambia, where it plans to partner companies in the transportation space.
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