Trella Eyes Gulf & Africa Expansion Following $42 Million Investment

Cairo-based delivery and logistics platform, Trella, has secured a mammoth $42 million investment, made up of $30 million in new equity co-led by Maersk Growth and Saudi Arabian investor Raed Ventures, with an additional $12 million for debt facilities.

Established in 2018 by Omar Hagrass, Ali El Atrash, Pierre Saad, and Muhammad El Garem, Trella’s mission statement aligns with transform trucking across emerging markets, and it works to do so by connecting truckers with freight loads through its platform. It currently has over 350 shippers registered, and over 15,000 primarily independent truck drivers on board. Since its founding, it has catapulted its presence to expand into navigating the markets of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, as well as Egypt.

Trella CEO Omar Hagrass hailed the fuel of investments, saying “this $42 million funding round is a huge endorsement of Trella’s capabilities, business model, and market opportunity. We have a strong diversity of investors and we thank all participants for their support. It is great to have Maersk, as a shipper customer that uses Trella, invested in our future growth.”

Hagrass also briefly assessed the broader picture in the region’s logistics environment, adding that “the MENAP [Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan] freight market is a significant one and urgently needs the transparency, reliability, and efficiency that Trella and its technology platform provides. We are trusted and used by some of the world’s most recognisable brands, and look forward to working with our partners to scale across MENAP.”

Hagrass revealed that the new funds will be used to expand into the Gulf region beyond Saudi Arabia over 6-to-9 months, as well as into East and West Africa within the next 12 months.

The debt facilities will be provided by Lendable, a next-generation lending platform, and other local financial institutions.