Google’s third investment is in Africa’s Lori

Google joined a pre-Series B round of funding for Lori Systems, an African on-demand logistics and trucking firm that digitises haulage and offers shippers tools to manage their goods and carriers. Other current investors also participated.

According to sources, the business raised money at a somewhat higher valuation than its previous $110 million valuation in 2020.

This unannounced investment is Google’s third from the $50 million Africa Investment Fund, which the company’s CEO Sundar Pichai announced last October and is intended to support early- and growth-stage firms on the continent.

The fund is a component of Google’s five-year, $1 billion investment plan in “tech-led initiatives.” The announcement follows the opening of Google’s first product development facility in Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, the city where Lori Systems was first established.

Google made its first investment in the popular SafeBoda app in Uganda last December. The managing director for sub-Saharan Africa, Nitin Gajria, stated during the unveiling that the Africa Investment Fund wouldn’t limit itself to particular industries or areas.