The IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has announced a $6-million equity investment in Nigerian tech startup Kobo360.
The startup’s e-logistics platform helps connect the supply of trucks with the demand for transportation services by cargo owners in Nigeria.
This is the second investment the startup is securing this year. In June, it attracted $1.2-million seed round led by US venture capital firm Western Technology Investment.
The IFC said in a statement that the investment was led by the IFC with participation from others including Silicon Valley investors WTI, YCombinator and African institutional investors Cardinal Stone Partners, Chandaria Capital and TLcom.
Kobo360 CEO and founder Obi Ozor said in the same statement that the startup remains focused on “aggressively” reducing “logistics frictions” for large enterprises and SMEs, and connecting new markets, and in the process unlocking better wellbeing and opportunities across communities.
The IFC said the company currently has 5000 trucks empanelled on its platform, from over 600 small fleet owners, serving some of the largest enterprises in Nigeria.
The transaction was announced by the IFC and Ozor on the eve of the opening of the IFC’s Next 100 African Startups Initiative.
The programme, launched in partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation and IFC, spotlights more than 100 promising African startups (through The Next 100 African Startup Initiative) that will participate in the Africa 2018 Forum being held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
