After selling their hotel tech startup, Teranga, in 2018, the Senegalese brothers mustafa and Alioune Ndoye they ventured into the trucking business while pondering their next move. However, it soon became clear to them that fleet management is a significant challenge and one that greatly influences the level of profit truck owners make.
Some market research made them aware of the full scope of inefficiencies in the trucking business, which especially limited profits for owner-operators. And this is how his logistics technology start-up, burdenborn.
“We realized that there were so many inefficiencies and that the logistics sector in Senegal was very fragmented, but we felt that technology could help. So, we decided to be drivers for a few months to understand how the sector works, its real challenges and where the opportunity was, before building anything,” Moustapha told TechCrunch.
Chargel, which came out of hiding last year, connects shippers with shippers and digitizes processes that were previously largely offline. The startup is taking off quickly and now counts some of the world’s largest shipping companies, Maersk and Grimaldi, among its first customers.
In its next phase of growth, it is opening its platform to more clients, since it had limited access to 10 companies. Its exploration of new avenues for growth is supported by a $2.5 million seed round led by Logos Ventures. Ventures Platform, Foundation Botnar, DFS Labs, and Seedstars also participated in the round which also included $500,000 in debt.
“This year we are opening the platform to more shippers in Senegal. We are also considering expansion into another French-speaking African country,” said Moustapha, who briefly worked as a senior product manager in charge of business solutions at Senegalese unicorn. Wave.
Chargel plans to expand into an additional country within French-speaking Africa. image credits: Burden
Operating from Senegal, Chargel carriers deliver to neighboring countries Mali, Guinea and Mauritania. Moustapha says that establishing full operations in an additional country will increase its regional coverage and solve many of the other headaches associated with trucking.
“The demand is not only in Senegal; Some of the clients we work with, like Maersk for example, serve nine countries from the Senegal office. Of course, they want us to be in those countries,” he said.
How Chargel works
Chargel doesn’t just provide a platform, it streamlines the entire transportation process, as when it receives online requests from customers like Maersk, it matches them with the most suitable providers (truck and driver) from its network of carriers. Shippers can track their products while they’re in motion and receive notifications once delivery is made. The platform also brings together independent carriers, providing them with new revenue opportunities.
“Actually we are the ones in the middle because the clients hire us and we are responsible for the cargo. Our goal is to make sure the cargo gets from point A to point B on time,” he said.
“We are making sure that the carriers focus on their business and the truckers focus on driving, and we take care of everything that happens in between,” Moustapha said, adding that the startup gives carriers access to other services, such as insurance.
Moustapha says that Chargel earned more than $1.2 million in GMV in 2022, adding that they are close to surpassing that figure so far this year.
Chargel is the brothers’ fourth entrepreneurial venture after they returned to the country after completing their studies in the US. Their plan is to take advantage of the expected business boom in Africa. Intra-Africa cargo demand is expected to grow 28% by the end of the decade as intra-regional trade flourishes, fueled by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the world’s largest unrestricted trading region . Since intra-African trade already depends on road freight transport, this growth will further increase the demand for road transport services.