Multinationals like Amazon and Alibaba have leveraged logistics infrastructure such as UPS and FedEx to create large businesses. It’s not the same in Africa, where few third-party infrastructure players exist to provide end-to-end logistics to e-commerce companies. PAPS, a Senegal-based logistics and delivery company, is filling this gap in its region by offering customers various logistics services. Today the company is announcing that it has raised a $4.5 million pre-Series A round to expand its tech-enabled logistics solution across the Francophone region. The round was co-led by pan-African venture capital firm 4DX Ventures and regional telecom operator Orange. Participating investors include existing funds Uma Ventures and Saviu Ventures and new investors Yamaha Motor, LoftyInc Capital, Proparco, To.org, Kepple Ventures and Enza Capital.
Initially, PAPS operated a consumer-to-consumer logistics model. However, it immediately pivoted after noticing how infrequent and disorganized most requests were. It was hard to precisely predict the delivery flows in the space, which is different from the B2B model, where deliveries are planned. The platform caters to small to large businesses, assisting them with their logistics needs, from storage and international transport to last-mile delivery. PAPS also provides merchants with visibility features to track and know the status of deliveries from takeoff to the point of destination. Merchants can also schedule deliveries on the platform. The Senegalese company owns the warehouses used to store clients’ goods and parcels. It also owns motorcycles, vans, cars and trucks to carry out inter- and intra-city logistics and deliveries. Additionally, the logistics company has a relay network of hubs close to its clients that act as delivery points.