Nigeria: Nigerian startup, OnePort secures $5 million to expand digital freight services

The Nigerian startup will direct the funds towards expanding its team, improving its technology and services efficiency and effectiveness, as well as providing trade finance to shippers.

The seed round was led by Mobility 54, the VC arm of Toyota Tsusho and CFAO Group. Participating investors include SBI Investment, Flexport, ODX, a Singaporean syndicate fund, and other angel investors. Samurai Incubate also followed on after participating in OnePort 365’s previous round.

What OnePort is saying

Explaining why the startup is digitsing freight management, Founder and CEO Sola-Usidame said: “Most of the processes involved in the supply chain are manual, which is why it takes time for quotes to be generated.

“Typically, these guys have to deal with as many as 10 different middlemen. The way it works is this: there are probably about six different channels involved–you have a trucking phase, a customs brokerage, a terminal, a shipment, a warehouse, and then you have marine insurance,” he said. “As of today, I can tell you 80% of transactions are very much offline.”

What you should know

• OnePort connects businesses with an efficient digital freight network in Africa, helping them gain end-to-end supply chain control. Its reliable freight process enables the complexity minimization of freight shipments, helping customers save over 40% on administrative work.
• The global maritime industry oversees the movement and handling of over 800 million containers in various ports worldwide.
• Africa controls about 12% of this volume, with its clearing and forwarding market standing at almost $4 billion.
• Africa’s freight space is stuck with numerous challenges. Some include congestion at ports, opaque processes of service providers, fragmented payments, and low visibility and documentation.