Lori Systems, the Nairobi-based digital freight platform, has raised $2 million in a bridge round at a significantly reduced $5 million valuation, a steep drop from its 2020 peak valuation of $120 million.
Led by Delta40, with participation from Future Africa, FP Capital, and others, the new funding brings Lori’s total raised capital to over $46 million—a testament to both the company’s past promise and the current climate in African tech.
The new round reflects the broader recalibration happening across the African startup scene, where sky-high valuations are giving way to leaner, sustainability-focused operations.
Founded in 2016, Lori Systems burst onto the scene with a vision to digitize and optimize cargo transportation across Africa. Its platform connects large cargo owners to vetted transporters, reducing costs and increasing efficiency through automation, analytics, and real-time tracking.
The solution addresses a massive need: in many African countries, logistics costs can exceed 70% of a product’s retail price. By streamlining the freight experience, Lori once claimed it could cut costs by 20-30% for clients—many of whom include FMCGs, agriculture exporters, and oil & gas companies.
💡 From Hype to Headwinds
At its peak, Lori Systems operated in Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria and raised capital from top investors including Google, Imperial Logistics, CRE Venture Capital, and IFC and it won TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield Africa and was named a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. But despite these wins, Lori also faced slower-than-expected market adoption in some regions, high operational costs in low-margin transport markets and increasing competition from local and global logistics tech startups.
With this new bridge round, insiders say Lori Systems is realigning its priorities—from hypergrowth to sustainable operations.
“This isn’t the end. It’s a recalibration,” said a source familiar with the deal. “Lori still has strong tech and market insights—it now needs to prove it can operate profitably in a tough environment.”
With AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) gaining momentum, the long-term need for smarter logistics solutions remains urgent. Lori still has a shot at building the digital rails of intra-African trade, but now it must do so with discipline, operational grit, and financial focus.
While the valuation dip is significant, the fact that Lori continues to attract top-tier investors suggests there’s still faith in its vision—and a belief that African logistics tech is too big to ignore.
The journey of Lori Systems is a mirror of Africa’s tech sector—brilliant, bold, and now maturing. What matters next is not just who can raise, but who can weather the storm and execute. Lori Systems may no longer be the poster child of African startup hype, but it could still emerge as one of the continent’s most valuable logistics infrastructure builders—if it plays the long game right.
