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TUNL , a South African parcel of land shipping political platform , has secured $ 1 million in pre - seed financing from investors , include Founders Factory Africa , Digital Africa Ventures , E4E Africa , and Jozi Angels .
The weapons platform , which claims to help e - commerce merchants lay aside between 50 % and 80 % on international shipping costs , say the funding will fuel its expanding upon in its primary market , South Africa , and lay the groundwork for its launching in other central African and emerging markets .
CEOMatthew Daveyand COOCraig Lowmanfounded the company in 2022 after Davey assay to solve a challenge he faced as the get by director of a Dutch caller that import South African engineering material into Europe . The outgrowth of actuate these materials was inept and expensive , Davey remarked in an interview with TechCrunch , and the experience result him to realize the widespread issue of in high spirits shipping costs , particularly for modest commercial enterprise in emerging markets like South Africa .
The current challenges in cross - border shipping cost African businesses an calculate $ 50 billion each year in overlook opportunity . TUNL ’s founders identify a recurring issue among small- and medium - sized South African merchants during the pandemic : Shipping cost sometimes exceed the value of their products . This was true even for gamy - timbre items like textiles , clothing , footwear , camera accessory , and specialized components , despite the front of major messenger services such as DHL , UPS , and FedEx .
Typically , merchandiser in Cape Town might offer only a exclusive shipping option , such as DHL , to customers trying to bribe their products abroad . For instance , a knapsack could cost $ 60 , and the transport price from South Africa to the U.S. could be around the same toll of $ 50 to $ 60 , negatively impacting spiritual rebirth rates . What TUNL has done is set up their own economy messenger armed service to the USA , and also shape partnership with globular courier companies like UPS and FedEx , to deoxidise SMEs ’ shipping costs by 50 % to 75 % .
“ Our pricing is wholly transparent and democratized . We require to insure that every business , large or small , can have an equal chance to convert overseas sales by reducing the cost of shipping as much as potential , ” said Lowman in a statement .
On the TUNL chopine , merchant offer customers various shipping options during checkout . This include an “ economy ” courier option with the shipping monetary value starting as low as $ 10 from South Africa to the USA with a slightly long saving time ( around 10 to 14 twenty-four hours ) . Alternatively , customer can opt for faster transportation options ( within a hebdomad ) with FedEx or UPS at a much more fair toll than they are able to get individually . These alternative enhance flexibility and potentially meliorate changeover pace ( the precise Price vary based on name and address and weightiness , according to Davey ) .
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“ It ’s all about helping the merchandiser bring home the bacon because if you have one transportation option at checkout that ’s expensive and the customer has two choice , they can vacate that cart or settle to pay the money , ” said the CEO . “ But if you introduce two shipping option , peculiarly one that ’s free , the human psychological science drive the client to pick one of those two rather than desolate the cart . ”
mainly , the e - commerce merchandiser in South Africa using TUNL tend to station most of their products to the U.S. , the U.K. , Europe and Australia ; Davey said two - thirds of the packet terminate up in the U.S. Since its launch , TUNL has grown 35 % calendar month - on - calendar month , with over 700 merchants now part of its “ shipping club . ” TUNL ’s merchandiser have transport over 11,000 international bundle in 2023 , represent exports from South Africa deserving more than R24 million ( ~$1.3 million ) , the ship’s company said in a statement . Beyond South Africa , TUNL plans to partner with similar marketplace and platforms on the continent , such as Ivorian startup and DHL partnerANKA .
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The two - year - old e - commerce platform makes money by taking margins on the orders placed on its weapons platform . It handles a various range of mathematical product , include backpacks , mode footwear , arts and trade , books , nanofiber material and high - public presentation springs , various type of furniture , musical instruments , and nonperishable product like cosmetics . South Africa is known for its wine diligence , with exports reaching 368.5 million liters last year . And though wine-coloured ( alcohol ) shipping has n’t been included yet as part of export item on TUNL due to existing restrictions , Davey says the inauguration is currently in discussions with one of the largest wine subscription business concern in South Africa to venture into that business potentially .
“ We ’re get messages from merchants saying we ’ve transformed their business . They ’re adding Modern employee and growing because of us . And so it ’s a win - winnings for the ecosystem that we can help merchants feel that the South African market is not the only market they can serve and can see the world as the marketplace , ” he said . “ We ’re all about success , helping them grow internationally , because the consumer markets overseas are just so much large than the domestic markets for these variety of products . ”
Davey said that TUNL will now focus on using its seed funding to meliorate sales and the onboarding process for new merchants . Notably , it has streamline the onboarding experience , in the first place relying on client support aid to a more self - service coming .
