Trella, the Cairo-based trucking marketplace, has announced it raised $42 million in a Series A round. $30 million of it came as equity investment co-led by Maersk Growth and Raed Ventures, with sizable contributions coming from Algebra Ventures, Vision Ventures, Next Billion Ventures, VentureSouq, Foundation Ventures, and Flexport.
Meanwhile, the remaining $12 million came as debt financing from Lendable and other financial institutions.
Launched in Egypt in 2019, Trella currently operates on its home turf, as well as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The startup is optimistic that it will capture the lion’s share of the $150 billion worth of road freight market in MENA and Pakistan.
Trella’s platform connects carriers to shippers, which is a convenient arrangement for both parties. For shippers, the platform offers a reliable, transparent, fair option to turn to, while for carriers and truck drivers, it presents an opportunity to make the load utilization process more efficient.
As of June 2021, Trella has 350 shipping partners which includes heavyweights like Coca-Cola, Cemex, and Maersk, among others.
Commenting on the success of the Series A round, Omar Hagrass, the CEO of Trella, said, “This $42 million funding round is a huge endorsement of Trella’s capabilities, business model and market opportunity. We have a strong diversity of investors and we thank all participants for their support.
“It is great to have Maersk, as a shipper customer that uses Trella, invested in our future growth. The MENAP freight market is a significant one and urgently needs the transparency, reliability, and efficiency that Trella and its technology platform provides. We are trusted and used by some of the world’s most recognizable brands, and look forward to working with our partners to scale across MENAP.”
It is worth noting that the $42 million fresh capital from this funding round has made Trella one of the region’s best-funded trucking space. The startup now plans on utilizing the bulk of this capital in expanding its technology and product development efforts.
