Introducing: Leta

Africa’s Operating System for Logistics

At the heart of logistics are people.

People are the final destination of every supply chain. And if you can’t reach people reliably, you’re out of business.

But logistics is difficult, and I’ve experienced that firsthand.

As the Vice President of Product at Delivery.com, we operated in 35 states, made 10,000 deliveries a day for 25,000 merchants and with 5,000 drivers and dispatchers across the United States.

But our biggest barrier to expansion: last-mile distribution.

And it’s even harder in Africa.

After a decade building startups in the US, I came back to Kenya.

One of the first people I caught up with was Peter Njonjo, CEO of Twiga Foods.

He took me deep into Twiga’s operations, technology, and infrastructure. One of their biggest barriers to growth: last mile distribution.

And when we sat down with Darshan Chandaria (Group CEO of Chandaria Group) and Leighton Shaw (Executive Director of Simbisa Brands), we saw they had the same problems.

Many people across Africa live in hard-to-reach places with poor infrastructure, which drives up the cost of goods.

For businesses, logistics is fragmented, manual, and expensive.

And when we dig deeper into logistics in Africa, we see the same three issues come up:

Manual Processes

Most African companies are still using manual pen and paper systems to move goods.

Imagine moving hundreds or thousands of packages a day and having to write down every order to keep track of them.

These outdated models are slow and prone to errors. And they should be digitized.

Poor Infrastructure

In Africa, trade has poor infrastructure. Commercial centers often have a lot of distance between them. That increases transportation costs, lead times, and complexities in managing supply chains.

Poor infrastructure means lower delivery capacity, making it harder for African businesses to scale their operations and grow meaningfully.

Lack of Data

When you use manual processes like pen and paper, and poor infrastructure makes the movement of goods difficult, it’s hard to collect logistics data.

And without data, companies are in the dark about which products to sell, which routes to take, and how to save money on their logistics.

Ultimately, it stops companies from focusing on what matters: growth.

That’s why we built Leta

We built Leta to help companies move goods efficiently while giving them data and insights to grow.

By leveraging AI technology, we help companies track and optimize their deliveries and move goods across the continent.

And we’re off to a strong start.

To date, we have powered over 1 million deliveries for industry leaders like Chandaria, Twiga, and Simbisa Brands (behind Pizza Inn, Chicken Inn, and Galitos).

There is a clear before and after for these companies.

Twiga is one of East Africa’s biggest marketplaces that connects farmers to urban retailers. Naturally, their operations are complex.

Before Leta, Twiga used 9 trucks a day at one of its depots.

After integrating Leta, this dropped down to 7 trucks a day — dropping costs by over 25%, saving over $4,000 USD each month.

Tim Broekhuizen (Chief Operating Officer of Twiga) explains:

Leta has provided insights into our complex operations, and their efficiency coupled with customer support shows us why Leta is a strategic, long-term partner for Twiga.

By making logistics more efficient, we bring down costs for companies, reduce delivery times and reach more people reliably.

And after logistics, we can become a bridge for companies to connect with other essential services — like payments, e-commerce, and finance.

That’s why Leta exists. To help businesses (and in turn, help Africa) grow.

Want to join us?

Learn more about Leta here, or reach out to me if you want to partner, collaborate or learn more [nick@leta.ai]