African companies pay up to four times the global average, transporting goods and increasing prices for essential items like food and medicine. Logistics accounts for 75% of the continent’s product costs. According to To the African Development Bank (AFDB). Many of these businesses also rely on manual logistics, leading to delays.
Nairobi-based logistics software As-a-Service provider Letter I want to change all of that. AI-powered platforms optimize delivery routes, track shipments in real time, streamline payments, and provide businesses with delivery insights.
The startup has raised $5 million in seed funding to expand its solution. European VC company SpeedInvest led the round and received support from the African Investment Fund and Equator of Google, a Climate Tech Fund focused on Africa.
In November 2022, the Kenyan Logistics Startup raised $3 million in advance seed from several local investors. It was used to deepen operations in five core markets: Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Leta’s load and route optimization technology helps clients reduce costs and improve delivery efficiency by reducing the number of vehicles needed for distribution, explains founder and CEO Nick Joshi.
Leta integrates directly with your business’s ERP, POS and OMS systems to attract live order data such as SKUs, product type, price and customer details, says Joshi.
From there, the platform selects the best vehicle for each order and decides whether to load the product using the First-In, First-Out (FIFO) or Last-In, First-Out (LIFO) methods. (FIFO loads the oldest stock first, while LIFO loads the latest stock first.)
The platform automates manifest creation and dispatch planning, optimizing vehicle use based on local demand and truck capacity. Finally, according to Joshi, Leta’s AI-powered system optimizes delivery routes in real time.
“For example, if there is a roundabout where a track or bike cannot repeatedly complete a turn on that route, AI is flagging it as a blacklist route,” the CEO said. “This could be due to floods, police halts, construction or presidential convoys.
Logistics, embedded finance, and sustainability will be revived
Leta’s real-time mapping has become an important asset for one of the investors Google. Joshi points out that while Google Maps has not updated some areas in Nairobi since 2022, Leta’s platform is continually refined the roads and dealing with data sourced from live customer streams.
“We’re creating a much more robust map and address layout, so I think Google found it interesting,” he explains.
By connecting stakeholders across the supply chain, Joshi sees financial services as a natural extension of Letta’s software platform, already piloting several new products. According to Joshi, potential products include fuel cards for delivery partners, vehicle and device asset financing, and FMCG merchants’ supply chain financing.
Deepali Nangear, who leads Speed Invest investments in Africa and the Middle East, said the company supported Leta to “use logistics as a gateway, leverage FinTech as a growth driver, unlocking new business opportunities.”
Letters also help businesses reduce fleet size without reducing delivery and reducing fuel consumption and emissions. This explains the equator’s evidence.
“Companies with 70 trucks save about $30,000 a month using letters,” Joshi argues. “We haven’t started tracking our carbon emissions yet, but it’s a key goal this year.”
The Kenyan startup is currently bolstering over 35 major companies, including global brands such as KFC and Diageo, as well as local giants such as EABL and Gilani, optimizing over 10,000 daily travel in five markets.
Since coverage in 2022, Leta has seen significant growth. From 500,000 to 150,000 to travel, 500,000,000 deliveries were made to 4.5 million people, from 500,000 to 150,000 to travel, 2,000 vehicles managed to manage to get to 7,400. As a result, letter revenues made on the per-delivery pricing model have grown five times, says Joshi.
Leta is now aiming to double its revenue in the coming months as it expands to more countries in Africa and the Middle East along with clients such as KFC and Diageo.
Globally, Leta reflects early flexports before it shifts to technology-enabled fulfillment and asset ownership. In Africa, logistics startups like Sendy, Lori (also supported by Google), and Kobo360 took an asset-rich approach, consolidating tracks and acting as intermediaries. However, this model has been struggling and has only recently been closure and pivot.
Letter takes a different approach: just software. Instead of owning or aggregating assets, they can partner with companies that already own a fleet to help them improve efficiency and optimize utilization. This is a playbook for Bringg, onfleet, and other global logistics high-tech companies. bundle Please follow me again.
“First generation logistics startups in Africa have put their efforts into educating the market and proving that it is possible,” says Joshi. “By the time we came in, some were trying to redefine their business.
