Moroccan Startup Freterium Raises $4 Million in Funding

Rabat- Moroccan startup of transportation Freterium has raised $4 million in seed funding to scale-up its operations in Morocco and the MENA region.

American, European, Asian, and African investors decided to support Freterium, according to Techcrunch, an American online newspaper specialized in startup and high tech. The funding round, led by San Francisco-based investor Partech, saw the participation of CDG Invest, Y Combinator, Flexport, Swiss Founders Fund, Outlierz Ventures, among others.

As a result, Freterium has become “one of the most-funded startups in the emerging Moroccan ecosystem. Only B2B e-commerce startup Chari and proptech Mubawab has raised more recently,” the source added.

Launched in 2020, Freterium is backed by Y Combinator, an American technology startup accelerator. Twice a year Y Combinator invests “$500,000 per company in a large number of startups.”

With the received funding, the Moroccan startup tries to solve “critical backend challenges of the freight industry,” stated Techcrunch.

Freterium’s CEO Mehdi Cherif Alami explained that “we’re building a logistics operating system to allow the shippers, our customers to manage all of their domestic shipments on a single interface.” He added that this intends to “connect organizations, people, and technologies across the entire logistics value chain.”

The company’s “Transport Management Software” enables companies to track and manage shipments from ports to factories as well as products from factories to warehouses, B2B customers, and customers.

The software shares shipment information with all parties involved in the transaction. Once the delivery is complete, the retailers can access delivery invoices, receive insights on the organization’s efficiency, and even analyze the quality of service.

The startup’s CEO Mehdi Cherif Alami and CPO Omar El Kouhene previously worked in well-established consulting and logistics for companies such as McKinsey, PwC, and OCP Group covering projects in Africa and the MENA region.

Their previous experience helped them build software that is currently used by more than 20 enterprises. With a 35% monthly growth and over 3,000 users, the startup plans to expand in the Egyptian, Saudi, and Emirati markets in the upcoming 12 months.

The African market also has great potential for startups such as Freterium.

Commenting on Partech’s investment in the Moroccan startup, the company’s General Partner Cyril Collon has reviewed the potential of the African and Middle Eastern freight markets.

“We have been looking closely at the freight trucking market in Africa and the Middle East for the past five years, a market worth $250 billion,” he said, stressing that “85% of the volume is carried through established legacy partnerships between shippers and carriers and still run with manual, inefficient tools.”