Google, Speedinvest back Kenya’s Leta, which uses AI to make logistics cheaper
African companies pay up to four times the global average cargo transport, which leads to high basics prices such as food and medicine. Logistics services make up 75 % of the cost of the product on the continent, according to the African Development Bank (AFDB). Many of these companies also depend on manual logistics, which leads to delay.
The NAIROBI is in the NAIROBI company. The AI’s articles often improve the delivery methods, tracks the actual time, leads to simplifying payments, and provides companies with shipping visions.
The startup raised $ 5 million of seed financing to expand its solution, which it says helps companies to transport goods cheaper and faster throughout the continent. VC europeinvest has led the European round, with the support of the Google’s Africa and Cireator, a climate technology fund that focuses on Africa.
In November 2022, Kenyan Startup raised $ 3 million before seeds from many local investors, and the money you used to deepen operations in its five basic markets: Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Nick Joshi Nick Joshi explains that the technology of Leta’s Load and Route Optimization helps its customers reduce costs and improve delivery efficiency by reducing the number of vehicles needed for distribution.
Leta is directly integrated with ERP, POS and OMS systems directly, which leads to the withdrawal of direct demand data such as SKU, types of products, prices, and customer details, says Goshi.
From there, the platform chooses the best vehicle available for each request and decides whether you want to download products using first (FIFO) or Last-In, First-Out (LIFO), manual transmission, and intuition-based transmission. (FIFO downloads the oldest stock first, while LIFO downloads the latest shares first.)
Then the platform automates the creation of the statement and sends the planning, and improves the use of the car based on regional demand and truck capacity. Finally, the LETA system, which, according to Jochi, improves actual delivery methods.
The CEO said: “For example, if there is a roundabout in which trucks or motorcycles are repeatedly failing to complete a turn on this road, then artificial intelligence suspends this as a way listed in the black list,” said CEO. “This may be due to floods, police stop, or presidential convoy.
Logistics, built -in financing, and sustainability plays
In the actual time, I am one of the main assets of Google, one of its investors. Joshi notes that Google Maps has not updated some NAIROBI fields since 2022, while the leta platform has been constantly improving roads and processing data obtained from live customer delivery processes.
“We are creating a map and addresses much more powerful, and for this reason I think Google found it interesting,” he explained.
By connecting the stakeholders through the supply chain, Joshi sees financial services as a natural extension of the software platform in ITA and is already experimenting with some new products. Joshi says that possible offers include fuel cards for delivery partners, asset financing for vehicles and devices, and the supply chain for FMCG traders.
Dibali Nangia, who leads Spinvist investments in Africa and the Middle East, said that the company has supported Lita because it “benefits from logistics services as a gate and Fintech as a growth driver, and cancel new job opportunities.”
Leta also helps companies reduce fleet sizes without cutting delivery operations, reducing fuel consumption and emissions, explaining the equator support.
“A company with 70 trucks providing about $ 30,000 per month using Lita,” alleged by Joshi. “We haven’t started tracking carbon emissions yet, but it is a major goal for this year.”
Kenyan Startup is now operating more than 35 main companies, including international brands such as KFC and Diaageo, local giants such as Eabl and Gilani, which improves more than 10,000 daily trips across its five markets.
Since our coverage of 2022, leta has witnessed tremendous growth: 500,000 deliveries to 4.5 million, from the transfer of 20,000 tons to 150,000, and from the management of 2000 vehicles to 7400. As a result, the Ina revenues, which make it on a pricing form per service, have grown 5X, says Goshi.
Leta now aims to double revenues in the coming months as it expands to more countries throughout Africa and the Middle East with agents like KFC and Diaageo.
On the global level, it reflects early Leta Flexport before it turns into a technology and asset property technology. In Africa, startups such as Sendy and Lori (supported by Google) and Kobo360 have taken a heavy approach to assets, collecting trucks and working as mediators. However, he struggled with this model, which led to the closure and recent axes.
Leta takes a different approach: just a program. Instead of owning or collecting assets, you share with companies that already have fleets, which helps them enhance efficiency and improve use. It is the Playbook book, technology companies, other logistics services such as Bringg, ONFLEET, and Shapsy, as well.
“The first generation of logistical startups in Africa did hard work by educating the market and proving what is possible,” says Gochi. “By the time we entered, some were going out or trying to redefine their work.
2025-03-18 08:15:00
