Trella, a Cairo-based digital freight marketplace that serves the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, has completed a $42 million funding round that included $30 million in new stock and a $12 million lending facility.
The equity component was led by Maersk Growth and Raed Ventures. Algebra Ventures, Vision Ventures, Next Billion Ventures, Venture Souq, Foundation Ventures, and Flexport are among the other investors.
Lendable, a lending platform, and other local financial institutions are providing the debt facility.
Trella, founded in 2018, is a truck technology platform that is reinventing itself in emerging markets, with present market presence in three countries.
This covers Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, as well as its home market.
Omar Hegras, Ali Al-Atrash, Pierre Saad, and Mohamed Al-Garm are the four founders of Trella.
“This $42 million funding round is a substantial boost to Trella’s capabilities, business strategy, and market opportunity,” stated Omar Hegras, CEO of Trella.
He said, “It’s excellent that Maersk, as a Trella-using shipper customer, is investing in our future growth.”
Hegras further stated that the MENAP freight industry is a critical sector that requires the transparency, dependability, and efficiency that Trella and its technology platform can give.
“We are trusted and used by some of the world’s most well-known brands, and we look forward to expanding into the MENAP region alongside our partners,” he said.
“Our steadfast conviction in the founders, together with the booming shipping sector, made the opportunity to lead a very exciting Trella investment round,” said Omar Almajdouie, Co-Founder of Raed Ventures.
Despite the adverse operating climate, Trella’s product innovation has permitted considerable growth in the last year. “We are excited to help the team on their growth journey,” he added, “as this is confirmation of their resilient business strategy and great staff.”
“We are presently experiencing a rapid development in trucking, where freight transportation is becoming available to even the tiniest of businesses due to innovative digital solutions,” said Jeppe Hoier, Partner at Maersk Growth.
According to Hoier, the Trella platform is a great example of democratizing the logistics industry.
Trella is Maersk Growth’s first investment in Africa.
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Ziina, a payment app based in the UAE, has raised $7.5 million to scale regional expansion.