Investcorp leads $100m pre-IPO round in online trucking aggregator Trukker

Global alternative investment firm Investcorp has announced that Investcorp Saudi Pre-IPO Growth Fund LP led the pre-IPO round in privately-held TruKKer Holding, which has a significant digital freight network across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and neighbouring countries.

Investcorp led the initial close of the round with a $51m investment alongside new and existing investors.

Hazem Ben-Gacem, co-CEO of Investcorp commented: “Saudi Arabia is increasingly rich in highly investible companies, from fast-growth technology businesses like TruKKer to long-established family businesses that have grown consistently and are now looking for capital to implement more ambitious expansion plans. We are seeing a lot of interest in pre-IPO rounds as scale-ups secure greater market share and more Saudi businesses prove themselves successful on a national and regional basis. TruKKer is just one example of the kind of company that we believe will prove attractive to institutional investors as the Saudi ecosystem matures, and our pre-IPO fund will focus on exactly these kinds of high-growth businesses.”

“We are excited to add TruKKer to our portfolio and are keen to work with the founders of this regional champion to explore a possible market listing, as a continuation of our strategy and in line with our track record,” said Walid Majdalani, head of Private Equity MENA and Southeast Asia at Investcorp. “Thanks to its proprietary technology, TruKKer is ideally positioned to continue its strong growth while reducing carbon emissions across its markets. We look forward to our partnership with TruKKer and contributing our strategic and capital markets resources as well as our local and global insights to accelerate the company’s next phase of growth.”

This investment is part of the recently launched Investcorp Saudi Pre-IPO Growth Fund LP, targeting equity growth capital investments across a range of companies primarily based in Saudi Arabia with the potential to access the capital markets within three years. The fund provides investors with an opportunity to gain exposure to growing and market-leading businesses in strategic, high growth and underserved sub-sectors such as business services, transport and logistics, healthcare and consumer.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are key markets for TruKKer and represent a significant portion of the company’s revenues. The UAE market has witnessed strong growth over the years in large part due to the development of UAE– Saudi Arabia cross-border lanes with over 30,000 annual shipments transported by TruKKer, a key value proposition as the company continues to focus on scaling its network and looking to gain market share.

“TruKKer is at a key inflection point towards scaling its network and market share. Today, the company continues to grow exponentially serving over 700 B2B enterprise clients and is on track to cross $200m in revenues in 2022. The TruKKer team is proud to be delivering on its vision of making a positive contribution to the community by having close to 10,000 drivers generating more than 70 per cent of their monthly income on the TruKKer platform. Our technology also enables us to optimise truckloads to reduce empty miles and idle time thereby helping us achieve our sustainability objectives,” commented Gaurav Biswas, founder and CEO of TruKKer.”

In 2008, Investcorp established a dedicated presence in Saudi Arabia, and TruKKer marks Investcorp’s eighth investment in the country, with multiple successful public listings on the Saudi Stock Exchange, including BinDawood Holdings, Theeb Rent A Car, Leejam Sports Company and L’Azurde.