Lori Systems joins the list of African startups entitled to Google’s investment reserve for African startups – accessible funds to additional business capital to accelerate Lori Systems cargo logistics services. This update follows up on the previous Google commitment to accelerate African startup growth with a $50m Africa Investment Fund. Lori Systems has reportedly secured its slice of Google’s pan-African Investment Funds to bolster its startup cargo logistics services.
Lori Systems revealed the pre-Series B fundraising round they recently completed was geared up by Google’s intervention to have offered a stake of its commitment to fund the on-demand digitized haulage startup company. Still, Lori Systems declined to reveal the total amount they closed the pre-Series B round that acquired funds from Google and several other capitalist investors. Lori Systems reported the pre-Series B round yielded a higher seed valuation than the previous fundraising session that closed a hundred million dollars.
Since Lori Systems published a vague report about Google’s intervention in its pre-Series B round, Google is likely to have offered the most seed than other investors that participated in Lori systems fundraising. Lori Systems makes the third African startup company enlisted to benefit from Google’s pan-African investment initiative. The initial African startups’ Google endorsed are SafeBoda’s ride-hailing company and Carry1st social games publisher.
Google’s investment seems to be biased by placing an investment focused on the logistics sector rather than other sectors. Recall that Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai announced Alphabet Inc. will disburse a billion dollars to accelerate digital development in Africa. The $50m AIF is a fraction of the billion dollars the search giant committed to investing in Africa’s digital sector. Lest I forget to report that Google intends to accelerate innovations in Africa’s significant technology sectors including FinTech, eCommerce, and Logistics sectors serving local content.
Google’s billion dollars investment initiative committed to aiding the African digital sector is time lined to last for five years having deposited subsea cables and other high-end technology across Africa.
Google’s biased investment tends to favour the Kenyan digital sector nurturing a passive investment portfolio such as Lori Systems, SafeBoda, and an established Product/Data Development Centre in east Africa’s commercial region Nairobi. Google’s investments in Africa are focused on economies that will pioneer the search giant’s presence other than investing in competitive digital markets in Africa such as Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, etc.
Lori Systems is on the verge of expanding its cargo logistics operations outside its host country. Lori Systems will continue to serve its existing marketplace with low-cost cross-border cargo logistics. Lori Systems intends to expand its radar that connects shippers, trucks, and transporters to procure digitized haulage solutions in Africa.
Recall that Lori Systems has served the logistics sector for half a decade moving cargoes across the continent. Over $10bn worth of cargoes has been transported via Lori Systems logistics network since the 2016 debut in Nairobi, Kenya. Google extending Lori Systems’ business capital gives the logistics startup company an edge to leverage Africa’s on-demand logistics operations.
