Truck It In, a platform tech company focused on simplifying road freight for businesses in Pakistan, announced that it has raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed round led by global seed and growth investor Global Founders Capital and multinational VC firm Fatima Gobi Ventures. Other notable investors include Deosai Venture, BitRate VC, +92 Ventures, founders of Wayve, and angel investors including members of Careem’s leadership. This fund is MENAP’s largest-ever pre-seed fund raised by a startup in the region.

Truck It In Co-Founders
L-R: Truck It In Co-Founders Raza Afzal, Muhammad Sarmad Farooq, and Haider Navid

The Karachi-based startup was founded in August 2020 by Muhammad Sarmad Farooq, Raza Afzal, and Haider Navid. With less than a year of operations, the company has recruited high-performance teams and scaled products that have delivered exponential growth in the ride-hailing, food, and last-mile delivery industry. The company streamlines the process for shippers and truckers on its online platform. Truck It In focuses on simplifying road freight for more than 3.3 million businesses in Pakistan.

Regarding the company’s ethos its Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Sarmad Farooq said: “The current middlemen heavy industry relies on traditional calling and mental notes to match truckers with shippers. We are going to solve the supply chain inefficiencies in a $25 Billion market, that is growing faster than its regional peers, to help unlock more than $1 Billion for Pakistani businesses.”

The startup plans to use its fresh capital to continue solving complex supply chain issues and to bring Pakistan’s road freight industry to the digital age. Truck It In is also looking to onboard skilled talents within the MENAP region to continue fulfilling its mission. Its platform is currently being used in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Faisalabad.

Tito Costa, Partner at Global Founders Capital weighs in on the firm’s investment with fast-growing companies with huge potential of transforming their industries: “We are excited to back the Truck It In team and kickstart their effort to digitize the trucking industry in the country, benefiting both shippers and truck drivers. There is an opportunity to transform the industry by driving efficiencies and cost savings through technology and Truck It In has the perfect team to execute on it.”

Ali Mukhtar of FGV also shares: “Having backed successful investments in this space in HK and Southeast Asia, we are excited to add our first trucking portfolio company in Pakistan. We believe the team is well-positioned to lead the disruption in the trucking sector and we look forward to joining the company in its journey, not just to solve challenging old-world logistics problems but also to add significant social value to the livelihood of individual and SME truck owners across the country.” Ali also added that FGV’s participation will enable Truck It In to tap into the firm’s LP base, as they represent major industries in Pakistan with sizable shipping operations.