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2020 was a happy year for Alex Weeks and Yangon-based logistics startup Carzo. Karzo has been one of Myanmar’s start-up success stories since he touched the national lockout during the Covenant-19 epidemic to win the 2021 World Cup.
Wick started his entrepreneurial journey in Hong Kong and set up a digital content marketing company to help his clients with web development and search engine optimization (SEO). A.D. Upon arriving in Myanmar in 2012, Wicks realized that SEO was not there because the country had begun to digitalize. He still remembers how the Burmese looked for him on the popular Facebook, not Google.
But Wiki did not start another SEO company. Instead, the logistics technology company created a scrapbook.
“I was very interested in the shared economy model, companies like Airbnb and Uber were constantly on my mind. But at the same time I saw empty trucks in Myanmar. There were 430,000 trucks in 90% of the country. Businesses had to use a lot of suppliers. It was so scattered, it was a complete headache. ”
A.D. Launched in 2016, Carzo works in the B2B freight forwarding industry, connecting truckers to businesses. According to Wicks, the company currently manages the largest virtual cargo ship in Myanmar, with more than 5,000 drivers on stage.
Solving logistical pain points
Myanmar’s freight and logistics market is expected to reach $ 4 billion by 2025. However, despite growing demand and the influx of new international players, the sector is highly fragmented, with more than 4,000 logistics companies scattered around the country’s main corridors, including Yangon, Mandalay, Muse and Miyawadin, according to Ken Research.
“The surveillance system in the country is mostly paper and handmade. The whole country is made up of very small and scattered ships, which is a big pain for businesses that use a lot of suppliers,” Wex said.
Carzo is trying to address this interruption by connecting truck drivers, flight owners and third-party logistics companies (3PLs) to the app, and will prevent brokers from feeding on drivers’ edges, Wicks explained. The platform allows their customers to verify that their supply is on track, track and monitoring. It also provides other services such as last mile distribution, line transportation and truck packaging.
The monitoring platform captures most of its revenue, Wicks said. The platform charges a commission of 5-10% from its business customers, with no commission from drivers. Karzo plans to further expand its business offerings by planning to build end-to-end supply chain services across the country.
“We have started to build cross-logistics logistics, online freight and warehousing, where our customs clearance is now fully operational in Thailand.
Four weeks standing
When Myanmar was locked up nationally due to CVID-19, Carzo was stationed for four weeks in April while trying to stabilize the facility, Wicks said.
“Due to the Burmese New Year, Burma is considered a holiday. The country was closed for two weeks. However, due to the closure of the entire country, not all truck drivers were able to return home and return to the city. [after the holiday]So we lost our business for three weeks in April. It was a very difficult time. “
However, since the second week of May, after the lockout, the company has undergone significant changes in its operations.
“At the time, we were doing core transportation on the four freight corridors. [November],” he said.
Increasing competition from regional and international players
Myanmar’s emerging economy and strategic location between China and India border with Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand In recent years, regional players such as DHL, DB Schenker, Kerry Logistics and Indonesia-based Cargon have attracted attention.
The Myanmar-based Conesi truck is another competitor that received a six-digit investment from VC Nest Tech, a leading VC company from Yang Capital Partners (YCP) and Vietnam last November. The company operates an online logistics platform that connects businesses with more than 100 exporters and more than 2,000 trucks to individuals and small ship owners.
However, according to Wicks, the company’s biggest competitors are still the middlemen scattered around the country. “There are not many competitors in our area. There are other international logistics players like DB Shencker who use us as their key suppliers. So we have a natural tendency to be the number one key supplier.
Series A financial support
Although logistics contribute 12.24 percent of the country’s gross domestic product annually, the sector is largely underutilized. Although modernizing and optimizing Myanmar’s logistics is part of Carzo’s vision, Wix said the organization has a vision to improve cargo relations between Southeast Asia and South Asia. “Myanmar’s logistics market is expected to grow by 300%. We need an expanding technology solution to bring all these markets together.
To expand to other markets, the company plans to expand in the first quarter of 2021, Wicks said.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “Startup Stories” series, where KrASIA writers talk to the founders of technology companies in South and Southeast Asia.
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