After Office Hours with Mark Mwangi, CEO Amitruck

Road Transport in Africa can be quite cumbersome as it comes with considerable challenges.

From inefficient logistics companies, long distances, potholed roads, and complicated border-crossing procedures the transport industry is fragmented and riddled with untrustworthy middlemen and plagued with a lack of security, which greatly increases the cost and liability of transporting goods.

Well, in recent years the situation is slightly changing as we see the emergence of numerous companies that offer technology solutions to address these and other headaches faced by cargo owners and transporters on the continent.

One company that seeks to digitalize logistics in Africa is Amitruck,  a Nairobi-based trucking logistics marketplace that allows transporters (owners of motorbikes, pick-ups, vans and trucks) to find and connect with customers through a mobile app.

Founded in 2019, the startup’s platform connects transporters directly with cargo owners via its web or mobile application, avoiding middlemen.

Transporters bid for work on the platform, ensuring competitive prices, while cargo owners have convenient access to a range of competitive offers and can choose a transporter based on price, rating and experience. 

Having been set-up just before the pandemic hit the nation, so how was it or has it been building the company up through the pandemics? What challenges have been encountered and what lessons can we gather from the Amitruck Journey?

Join us for an After Office Hours session with Mark Mwangi, CEO and Co-founder at Amitruck as he walks us through his entrepreneurial journey that has seen him build one of the leading and successful companies in the transport and logistics industry.

During the session, Mark will also walk us through his journey from being a truck driver to becoming a logistics start-up co-founder and CEO, what really pushed him into taking this bold step and what opportunities lie in the continent’s logistics industry?

Away from the company, Mark will also share the dos and don’ts of scaling a company in new territories, his elevator pitch, his biggest mistake (and what he learnt from it), and what one needs to look out for while seeking company funding.

Amitruck raised pre-seed round of USD1 million in 2021, and less than a year later the company backed US$4 million seed round to help it expand across Africa and expand its team across key functions, including sales, engineering, and customer success. 

Amitruck’s database consists of over 8,000 vehicles, which have in just over two years completed almost 100,000 deliveries for more than 300 corporate clients. 

Consequently, its revenue grew 1,000 percent in 2021. The startup is now eyeing market dominance in the Africa trucking and logistics market, which accounts for almost 80 per cent of transported goods.

You can’t miss this. RSVP your attendance and see you then!

When: Thurs, 24th November
Where: Nairobi Garage // Kilimani - 7th Floor, Pinetree Plaza
Time: 5 PM

 About the speaker

Mark Mwangi, Founder and CEO is an ex-investment banker and worked in the Capital Markets in London where as part of a team of four he managed a €5bn public equities portfolio at Pictet Asset Management. 

He also co-founded a startup in the UK called Dalwyn, a platform that enabled consumers and producers of natural gas to connect and transact directly with each other. 

By combining industry experience and technical expertise, they were using artificial intelligence and automation to transform Europe’s gas market. 

One of the origins of Amitruck is that to pay for his full-time Mathematics degree in the UK, he worked as a full-time night shift truck driver. 

When he moved back to Nairobi in 2018, he identified a gap in the trucking industry after spending some time with family friends in the cement business. 

This culminated in the formation of Amitruck in 2019 to use technology to bring transparency to the logistics industry in Kenya. Mark is part of the Harambean alliance. 

When: Thurs, 24th November
Where: Nairobi Garage // Kilimani - 7th Floor, Pinetree Plaza
Time: 5 PM
RSVP and see you then!