Jetstream, a Ghanaian e-logistics platform, raises $13 million in equity and debt funding. Jetstream serves Africa’s business-to-business importers and exporters.
It is anticipated that revenues will reach $32 billion in the cross-border logistics services market by the year 2025. Several organisations are already competing with one another for market share in this rapidly expanding and increasingly cut-throat industry.
On the list is the Ghanaian e-logistics startup Jetstream Africa, which is making the announcement that it has acquired $13 million in equity and debt pre-Series A investment.
The debt financing was provided by the fintech lender and private equity firm Cauris as well as the French development institution Proparco through its bridge fund.
The equity investors included Octerra, Wuri Ventures, Seed9, The MBA Fund, and ASCVC, which is a venture fund that executives of the supply chain visibility platform Project44 established. Additionally, long-time investors Alitheia IDF and Golden Palm took part in the offering.
About 18 months have passed since Jetstream disclosed a seed round of $3 million (including $1 million in debt), and this new round of funding brings the total to $4 million.
Read also: Africa based GIG Logistics, Extends Operations To China
The Impact of the Fund on the Operation of Jetstream
According to Jetstream, this new investment will enable the company to continue developing its technology platform, which vertically incorporates fragmented logistics and financing vendors in the world of African trade, as well as allow it to expand into new countries. Currently, Jetstream operates in 29 countries, 12 of which are located in Africa.
At the period of its seed round, Jetstream Africa had two distinct business lines: one involved the provision of logistical services to cargo owners who were engaged in international trade, and the other involved the distribution of funding to freight forwarders.
However, in order to better assist cargo owners, Jetstream has combined both offerings into a single package during the past few months. According to Miishe Addy, chief executive of the startup company, Jetstream has reached a point where its product is a good fit for the market.
“Running those two lines side by side, we observed that the import or export business controls the supply chain,” Addy said.
“Although the cargo owners and freight forwarders have a lot of information asymmetry, the importer and exporter can put pressure on the freight forwarder to digitize the supply chain. We simplified our business into just the import-export product line by working directly with them with a combination of trade financing and logistics.”
How Jetstream Would Improve
Jetstream is now a freight forwarder. The company now manages shippers’ import and export cargo, collects a fee, and provides loans for those in need. Most freight owners get loans from banks by getting a letter of credit. The counterparty bank decides. Explain: The Ghanaian bank takes cedi and interacts with the Chinese exporter’s bank, which dispenses the yuan after vouching for the cargo owner.
It takes weeks. The letter of credit method is inefficient for cargo owners on both sides of the transaction who desire faster credit, forcing them to locate other sources of finance that require collateral. Jetstream provides working capital backed by shipment. Addy says the four-year-old firm secures the freight. Jetstream underwrites loans to be repaid within 15–90 days through its banking partners and distributes the loan funds to all supply chain vendors.
“If you’re importing 10 containers, in addition to paying for the actual goods, importers have to pay the shipping line, customs broker on both sides, truck drivers on both sides, you have to pay a warehouse operator in some cases, or container terminal. There’s a minimum of nine different vendors you have to pay,” remarked Addy.
“And when someone applies for a Jetstream loan, they’re not just saying give me $50,000 but enough money to fund this entire shipment and pay these nine vendors. Also, we don’t give the money to the cargo owners but to the nine vendors directly.”
Jetstream has disbursed $9 million in trade financing loans since mid-2021, up from $1 million. Addy predicted a fivefold gain by year’s end. After altering business models, Jetstream has grown from disbursing one loan per month to up to 50 per month, becoming EBITDA positive. The e-logistics startup, which handles 47% air freight, 44% ocean freight, and 9% land transport, also reported 48% revenue growth and 102% active client growth over the past year.
One of Jetstream’s investors says this round of funding will help the startup expand to new markets by leveraging trade policies like AfCFTA, enabling richer inter-continental trade, which is required to assist inclusive economic development and unleashes the continent’s full potential.
