Senegalese logistics technology startup Chargel has raised $2.5M in seed funding

After selling their hospitality technology startup Teranga in 2018, Senegalese brothers Mustapha and Aliyoun Ndoye entered the trucking business as they pondered their next move. However, it soon became clear to them that fleet management was a major challenge and had a significant impact on truck owners’ profits.

Some market research has made them fully aware of the inefficiencies in the trucking business, which in particular limits the income of owner-operators. And that’s how logistics technology startup Chargell was born.

“We realized that there were a lot of inefficiencies, and the logistics sector in Senegal was very fragmented, but we felt that technology could help us. So, before building something, we decided to be a driver for a few months to understand how the sector works, the real challenges and where the opportunities are,” Mustafa told TechCrunch. He said.

Chargell, which emerged from theft last year, deals with shippers, digitizing processes that were previously mostly offline. The startup is taking off fast, and now counts some of the biggest shipping companies in the world, Maersk and Grimaldi, among their first customers.

Limited to acquiring 10 companies in its next development phase, it is opening the platform to more customers. Exploring New Growth Paths is backed by a $2.5 million seed round from Logos Ventures. Ventures Platform, Foundation Botnar, DFS Labs and Seedstars participated in the round, which also included $500,000 in debt. The funding also includes the $750,000 it announced last year.

“This year we are opening up the platform to more exporters in Senegal. We are looking at expanding into another Francophone African country,” Mufta, who worked briefly as a senior product manager at Unicorn Wave in Senegal, leading business solutions.

Chargell plans to expand to additional countries in Francophone Africa. Image Credits: Charge

Cargo ships operating from Senegal deliver to the neighboring countries of Mali, Guinea and Mauritania. He said establishing a full operation in one more country would increase their regional coverage and solve many other headaches associated with road freight.

“The demand is not only in Senegal; some of the clients we work with, for example Maersk from the Senegal office, serve nine countries. They really want us to be in those countries.”

How Chargel works

Chargell doesn’t just provide a platform, it speeds up the entire transportation process, where it matches the most suitable suppliers (trucks and drivers) in the shipping network when it receives online inquiries from customers like Maersk. Shippers can track their shipment while it’s in motion, and receive notifications when it arrives. The platform brings independent carriers together and provides them with new revenue opportunities.

“Actually, we are in the middle because the customers contract with us and we are responsible for the shipment. Our goal is to get the goods from point A to point B on time,” he said.

“We’re enabling shippers to focus on their business and truckers to focus on driving, and we’ll take care of everything in between,” said Musfata, adding that the startup also allows carriers to access other services, such as insurance.

Mustafa said Chargel made more than $1.2 million in GMV in 2022, and is on track to surpass that figure this year.

After Charjeel returned home after completing his studies in America, this is the brothers’ fourth attempt at entrepreneurship. Their plan is to bring the expected business growth in Africa. As intra-Africa trade is growing, led by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), demand for cargo in Africa is expected to grow by 28 percent over the next decade. As trade in Africa relies on road freight transport, this growth is set to further increase demand for freight services.