African businesses cost four times the global average to ship goods, increasing prices for essential items such as food and medicine. Logistics account for 75% of the cost of products in this Africa, according to Go to the African Development Bank (AFDB). Many of these businesses also rely on manual logistics, resulting in delays.
Logistics Software in Nairobi – Service Provider Leta Want to change all of this. Its AI-powered platform optimizes delivery routes, tracks goods in real time, simplifies payments, and provides transportation insights for businesses.
The startup has raised $5 million in seed funding to expand its solutions, which it says is helping businesses cheaper and faster across the continent. European venture capital firm SpeedInvest led the tour and received the equator of Google’s African Investment Fund and the Africa-centric climate technology fund.
In November 2022, Kenya logistics startup Raised $3 million in pre-seed From several local investors, it has been used to deepen the operations of its five core markets: Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Founder and CEO Nick Joshi explained that Leta’s load and route optimization technology helps its customers reduce costs and improve delivery efficiency by reducing the number of vehicles required for distribution.
Joshi said Leta integrates directly with the enterprise’s ERP, POS and OMS systems, attracting implementation data such as SKUS, product type, price and customer details.
From there, the platform selects the best available vehicle for each order and decides whether to load the product using the first, first (FIFO) or last (LIFO) method to replace manual, intuitively based scheduling. (FIFO first loads the oldest inventory, while Lifo first loads the latest inventory.)
The platform then automates obvious creation and scheduling plans and optimizes vehicle usage based on regional needs and truck capacity. Finally, according to Joshi, Leta’s system is powered by AI to optimize delivery routes in real time.
“For example, if there is a roundabout where a truck or motorcycle repeatedly fails to complete the turn of the route, the AI flag takes it as a blacklisted route,” the CEO said. “This could be due to flooding, police stopping, building or presidential convoys constantly update their map layers to reflect these changes.”
Logistics, embedded finance and sustainability drama
Leta’s real-time mapping has become a key asset for Google, one of its investors. Joshi noted that since 2022, Google Maps has not updated certain areas of Nairobi, and Leta’s platform continues to refine the path and address the data obtained from real-time customer delivery.
“We are creating a more powerful map and address layout, which is why I think Google thinks it’s interesting,” he explained.
By connecting stakeholders throughout the supply chain, Josh sees financial services as a natural extension of Leta’s software platform and is already piloting some new products. Potential products include fuel cards for delivery of partners, asset financing for vehicles and equipment, and supply chain financing for FMCG merchants, Josh said.
Deepali Nangia, who leads SpeedInvest’s investment in Africa and the Middle East, said the company supports Leta because it “develops new business opportunities by using logistics as a portal and fintech as growth drivers.”
Leta can also help businesses reduce fleet size without cutting delivery and reduce fuel consumption and emissions, which explains Equator support.
“The company with 70 trucks saves about $30,000 a month,” Josh said. “We have not started tracking carbon emissions yet, but that is a key goal this year.”
Kenyan startups now offer more than 35 major businesses to global brands including KFC and Diageo, as well as local giants such as Eabl and Gilani, optimizing over 10,000 trips for daily trips in five markets.
since Our coverage for 2022Leta has grown enormously: from 20,000 to 150,000 tonnes, from managing 2,000 vehicles to 7,400, 500,000 deliveries to 4.5 million. As a result, Leta earns five times the income per capita pricing model, Josh said.
Now, Leta aims to double revenue in the coming months as it expands to more countries in Africa and the Middle East with clients like KFC and Diageo.
Globally, Leta Mirror Early flexible ports Before being transformed into technical support performance and asset ownership. Logistics startups in Africa sendy,,,,, Lori (also supported by Google) and Kobo360 An asset-heavy approach was taken, summarizing trucks and acting as intermediaries. However, this model has been struggling, leading to the recent closure and Pivot.
Leta takes another approach: just software. Instead of owning or aggregating assets, IT works with companies that already own fleets, helping them improve efficiency and optimize utilization. This is a script Other global logistics technology companies Blegg,,,,, onfleetand Reckless Pay attention too.
“Africa’s first-generation logistics startups work hard by educating the market and proving that they may have done hard work,” Josh said. “When we entered, some people are exiting or trying to redefine their business.
