By News Desk
TIRPORT, a transportation technology company, is planning to become a unicorn in the next couple of years by providing Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-asa-Service (SaaS) technology to dominate the Turkish truck market, its co-founder Akin Arslan, told TR MONITOR.
The startup has developed a proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) technology for smart matching and booking of trucks and to manage idle capacities in the freight industry, Arslan said. Both logistics companies and private individual truck drivers are its potential customers.
Turkey is the largest truck market in Europe with more than 850,000 trucks and 1.2 million truck drivers. The Turkish transportation market has the potential to create a unicorn and TIRPORT is a strong candidate to become one, Arslan said. The startup, has been looking to raise between USD 15m and USD 25m in a Series B round, the GM added.
The traffic on TIRPORT’s platform has reached a daily FTL volume equal to the largest logistics operator in Turkey by the end of 2020, Arslan said. TIRPORT, however, is not a competitor but an end-to-end technology provider to such logistics companies, he added.
The startup projects conducting 25% of its 30,000 daily FTL transport in the spot market and reach a general merchandise value (GMV) of USD 400m annually from 2023
Dr Akin Arslan, Co-founder and GM TIRPORT
“By the end of 2020, TIRPORT’s platform had already reached a daily full-truckload (FTL) volume equal to the largest logistics operator in Turkey“
OPERATED BY TIRPORT
Established in 2016 by three co-founders, Dr. Akin Arslan, ex- Wincor-Nixdorf CEO Hakan Ozcubukcu, and Burcu Kale, the startup launched services in 2018 after two years of R&D and has been generating revenue since the beginning of 2020. It has so far spent a total of USD 4.5m in product development. TIRPORT raised USD 2m in a Series A round from external investors in two tranches, in 2019 and 2020.
It plans to use the proceeds from the Series B to launch a new initiative called “Operated by TIRPORT,” which offers a registered and trusted fleet of trucks and drivers on its platform.
The startup also plans to strengthen its position in the northern Silk Road route, in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, Arslan said. It also plans to establish a headquarter in the Netherlands, TIRPORT Europe, in Q3 2021 to manage its global expansion plans, he added.
With presence in seven countries, five in Africa, TIRPORT is available in five languages. Its global partners include the U.S.-based Convoy, Flexe and FourKites; Brasilian Cargo; Germany-based sennder; Chinese Manbang; Indian companies Delhivery, Blackbuck and Rivigo, Arslan said.
TURKISH MARKET
Road transportation constitutes 90% of freight traffic in Turkey and there are over 858,000 trucks on the roads. 95% of those are owned by private individuals, Arslan said. Some 450,000 trucks conduct FTL transportation daily in Turkey and the road freight fare is around USD 5.5bn monthly, he added. Everyday some 4,500 trucks carry freight to European countries from Turkey, he said. TIRPORT aims to dominate the market by registering 25% of the 1.2 million truck drivers in the next four years, Arslan added.
The Turkish logistics market, worth around USD 100bn and growing, is highly fragmented, with 8,000 logistic companies of all sizes, Arslan said. Around 20 of them are global logistics and forwarders. The largest one has a 0.5% share in the market, he said. TIRPORT aims to host 10% of the Turkish truck transportation traffic in the next five years, he said.
