Cairo-based truck logistics marketplace Trella, which was founded by a former Uber executive, has acquired Egyptian rival Trukto to create the country’s largest platform of its kind.
Once the two companies are fully merged, a network of around 10,000 truckers will operate across the country, according to Menabytes.
Trella’s digital platform connects shippers and carriers in real-time, using data to optimize drivers’ routes and increase the volume of loads. This reduces wasted space and costs for both sides of the shipping transaction.
In acquiring its competitor, Trella is looking to leverage Trukto’s established infrastructure and network of truckers and shippers across the agriculture, consumer goods, cement, and logistics sectors to accelerate its growth in Egypt, Ventureburn reports.
In August 2019, Trella was accepted into Silicon Valley-based tech accelerator Y Combinator’s summer 2019 batch.
Trella was founded in 2018 by CEO Omar Hagrass, a former Uber executive; chief technology officer Pierre Saad; and Mohamed el Garem, head of sales.
Hagrass helped U.S. ride-hailing firm Uber expand Uber Eats across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, launching the food delivery service in Dubai, Cape Town, Riyadh, and more than 40 cities across the U.K.
In February 2019, Trella raised $600,000 in a pre-series funding round led by Cairo-based VC fund Algebra Ventures, according to Crunchbase. Trella is reportedly in the process of raising a multi-million-dollar funding round.
Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator is perhaps the world’s most powerful startup accelerator program. The problem that Trella is trying to address may have attracted YC as an investor — YC invested $150,000 in Trella as part of the accelerator program.
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The truck logistics industry lacks transparency in Egypt, and it is three times more expensive to transport goods in the country than in the U.S. This is an issue that Trella is trying to solve.
Trella has raised $750,000 in total since it was founded in 2018.
Trukto was founded in 2017 as Egypt’s first technology-enabled trucking marketplace, according to Weetracker.
