MENA’s digital freight firm buys Pakistan’s TruckSher

DUBAI: TruKKer, the largest digital freight network in the Middle East and North African markets, said on Wednesday it had acquired Pakistan's TruckSher, as part of its expansion plans into the South Asian country, Reuters reported.

TruckSher, which commenced operations in Pakistan earlier in 2021, raised seed investment from VC firm Sarmayacar, and has grown healthily in the domestic Pakistan long haul sector, TruKKer said in a statement, but did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

It has presence in Karachi and Lahore, with planned expansion across major industrial zones and ports in Pakistan.

Within a short space of time, the venture has spread its operations in the domestic long haul sector of the country, developing a strong client base into commodities, FMCG and electronics sectors.

The acquisition deal - a first for the UAE and Saudi-backed start-up venture for geographic expansion - is part of Trukker’s ambitious plans to foray into the Pakistan land freight sector, a senior executive of the company said.

“We have been doing our feasibility and analysis of the Pakistan land freight sector for some time now and are very excited with the opportunity it [acquisition of Trucksher] offers to digitisation and adaptation of technology in this fragmented and traditional sector,” Anish Garg, Trukker’s chief operating officer, said.

“We are glad to assist the Trucksher team to further accelerate their trajectory to continue leading the land freight sector in Pakistan fuelled by our advanced engineering products and processes.”

Garg also said a strong team, which is focussed on growth, operational excellence and is passionate about the opportunity that technology offers to create long term efficiencies was key to succeed in a new market.

For Trukker, the acquisition will help to get a head start in Pakistan, and probably also in Afghanistan as Truksher offers its services to logistic and supply chain companies in that country, though the situation there remains fluid after the recent US military withdrawal.

TruKKer, which currently operates a fleet of 35,000+ trucks across its primary markets of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and other gulf economies, is backed by Saudi Arabia's STV and Riyad Taqnia fund, IFC and sovereign funds of Abu Dhabi, among others.

Trukker raised $23 million in Series A funding round led by STV, a $500 million Saudi technology venture capital fund, in November 2019, which was to be partly used for its regional expansion plans.