What has KOBO360 been up to in the last 2 years?
Summary
He also detailed how the company faced them and its current state of stable growth and sustainability.KOBO360 has a straightforward business model: Manufacturers and trading houses that want to ship cargo place an order and get matched to a truck driver who can deliver the goods. That sorted, Kobo360 passed the ancillary costs incurred on each drivers trips to the transporters.In addition, the company understood that while global manufacturers using its platform were sluggish to make payments due to their cash conversion cycles, COVID allowed them to embrace tech and go digital. Its nonperforming assets (NPAs) dropped to 0.8%, profit margins went up 240% and the receivables cycle reduced by 64% from 138 days to 49 days.While shorter payment periods gave the company a steady cash flow and allowed it to focus on improving its services, growth stalled because of churn in the number of manufacturers using its platform. Ayo Fashina, ex-IFC and Deutsche Bank, became its chief financial officer, while Kemide Senah, ex-Google and Citibank, took over Oyedeles role as head of growth.Given the informal nature of the logistics business, KOBO360s default mode was often reactive, putting out fires constantly and having to resolve last-minute issues with handling cargo or insuring vehicles. We moved from what I call a diagnostic control system, where the founders instruct, to an interactive control system.Last December, KOBO360 closed about half its intended raise: $48 million in equity and debt to double down on the momentum gained over the previous two years and build a sustainable strategy around being asset-light and improving its culture and product.The Series B round which saw participation from existing investors such as TLCom Capital, IFC, Goldman Sachs (Juven) and other bank and insurance partners was led by the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the equity arm of Afreximbank.