SEND

What SEND does

SEND is a Nigerian-headquartered digital freight forwarder and customs broker purpose-built for African import/export trade. Founded in 2017 and operating from Yaba, Lagos, the company runs a digital platform that consolidates air, ocean (LCL and FCL), and inland freight forwarding alongside digitized customs clearance and supply chain finance into a single workflow. Its core product is the SEND Platform, which provides bookings, real-time cargo tracking, 3PL management, document handling, supplier/buyer collaboration, and integrations with SAP, Salesforce, and QuickBooks to eliminate double data entry for enterprise customers.

The technology stack is centered on a unified supply-chain operating system rather than a discrete AI engine; moat-relevant components are the digitized customs workflows across African jurisdictions and pre-negotiated long-term trucking and barging capacity. The revenue model is transaction-based across three streams — freight forwarding, customs clearance, and supply chain finance — with a freemium front-end (free sign-up for platform access) and quote-based pricing on the underlying logistics services. GTM is dual-track: a self-serve, product-led motion for SMBs via the web app, paired with a demo-driven Calendly sales funnel for enterprise accounts. The customer base targets African import/export businesses and supply chain operators, with no named enterprise logos disclosed in the source material.

Capitalization has been modest: three disclosed rounds between 2020 and 2021 totaling roughly $250,000, including participation from Y Combinator, Ventures Platform, Ingressive Capital, Google for Startups, and others. The company operates with 11-50 employees and is led by founder & CEO Larry Oti alongside co-founder Kingsley Oti. Data on post-2021 funding, revenue, shipment volume, or headcount trajectory is not available in the input.

Name

SEND

Legal name

SEND

Website

https://send.ng

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SEND is a Nigerian digital freight forwarder and customs broker that operates a unified platform for booking, tracking, and clearing air, ocean, and inland cargo moving into and out of Africa. It serves African import/export businesses and supply chain operators with integrated ERP connectivity.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Freight Forwarding

NAICS

Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510), Freight Transportation Arrangement (48851)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731), Deep Sea Foreign Transportation Of Freight (4412), Trucking & Courier Services (No Air) (4210)

akta.pro primary industry

Customs Brokerage for Ocean Shipments (Import/Export Clearance) (TLACABAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ocean Freight Brokerage (FCL/LCL) (TLADAMAF), Ocean Import Forwarding (Destination Handling/DO/ISF) (TLACABAE), Ocean Export Forwarding (Booking/VGM/SI/BL) (TLACABAF), Trade Compliance & Ocean Regulatory Services (Sanctions/Export Controls) (TLACABAL), Truckload (TL) Freight Brokerage (TLADAMAB)

Keywords

• Digital freight forwarding
• Customs brokerage services
• African supply chain
• Air ocean freight
• Logistics management platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Yaba

HQ country

Nigeria

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Freight Forwarding Services: Revenue from managing shipping cargo via air and ocean freight from suppliers worldwide to destinations. Includes trucking and warehousing services. Charges based on shipment size, mode, and distance.
2. Customs Clearance: Digitized customs brokerage services across Africa, combining technology with professionals to ensure regulatory compliance for shipments.
3. Supply Chain Finance: Financial services integrated into the platform to help customers manage cash flow across their supply chain operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

SEND is a digital freight forwarder and customs broker that manages the end-to-end process of shipping cargo via air, ocean, and land from suppliers worldwide to destinations in and out of Africa. Its offering combines a proprietary digital platform (bookings, real-time tracking, document management, ERP integrations) with physical services including air freight, ocean freight (LCL/FCL), inland trucking and barging, customs clearance, warehousing, and supply chain finance. Customers engage via a self-serve app or enterprise sales motion.

Product overview

SEND offers a unified digital freight forwarding and supply chain operating system. The core platform integrates bookings, 3PL management, cost transparency, reporting, and real-time cargo tracking across air, ocean, and land transport modes. This platform is complemented by a suite of service offerings including Air Freight Services, Ocean Freight Services (LCL and FCL), Inland Transport Services (trucking and barging), and Customs Clearance Services. Together, these components enable end-to-end cargo movement from suppliers worldwide to destinations, including customs clearance and regulatory compliance across Africa.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SEND Platform A digital freight forwarding and supply chain operating system that gives African import/export businesses visibility and control of their supply chain, including bookings, 3PL management, cost transparency, reports, and real-time cargo tracking across air, ocean, and land transport. Targets businesses shipping cargo to/from Africa.
• Air Freight Services Time-critical air freight services for shipments moving across multiple countries in and out of Africa, leveraging consolidator relationships to prevent cargo delays. Targets businesses with time-sensitive African import/export shipments.
• Ocean Freight Services Ocean freight services covering both LCL (Less than Container Load) and FCL (Full Container Load) shipments from origin to destination, including trucking to the final door. Targets businesses moving larger cargo volumes via African trade lanes.
• Inland Transport Services Trucking and barging services backed by pre-negotiated long-term partnerships to safely and swiftly move cargo across African inland routes. Targets businesses needing last-mile and inland transport from ports and borders.
• Customs Clearance Services Digitized customs processes across Africa combined with professional expertise to ensure compliance with relevant regulations for shipments. Targets African importers/exporters requiring reliable customs brokerage.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SAPcoreTechnology or IntegrationERP integration partner. Platform syncs data with SAP systems, enabling customers to integrate SEND freight data into their enterprise resource planning workflows.
• SalesforcecoreTechnology or IntegrationCRM integration partner. Platform syncs with Salesforce for customer and order data synchronization, eliminating manual data entry between systems.
• QuickBookscoreTechnology or IntegrationAccounting integration partner. Platform syncs financial data with QuickBooks for streamlined bookkeeping and financial reporting across freight operations.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Flexport: Global digital freight forwarder offering ocean, air, and customs services via an integrated platform — directly comparable in product model to SEND, but operating globally rather than Africa-focused. Demonstrates the digital-forwarder template SEND is replicating for African corridors.
• DHL Global Forwarding: World's largest freight forwarder with significant Africa presence offering air, ocean, and customs brokerage. Comparable as an incumbent competing in the same service categories (air/ocean forwarding, customs clearance) that SEND targets, with much broader geographic reach and capital base.
• Maersk: Global ocean carrier and integrated logistics provider with Africa ocean freight services, customs, and inland operations. Comparable to SEND in ocean freight forwarding and customs for African trade, though Maersk owns vessels and operates at far greater scale.
• Kuehne+Nagel: One of the world's largest freight forwarders with established Africa operations across air, ocean, and customs. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering the same multimodal forwarding services SEND provides, with deep global carrier relationships and corporate customer base.

Direct peers

• Lori Systems: Pan-African digital logistics platform coordinating trucking and freight across East and West Africa. Directly comparable as a tech-enabled African freight marketplace addressing fragmented cross-border logistics, with similar target customers (African importers/exporters) and similar inland-transport challenges.
• Sendy: Kenya-based digital delivery and freight platform connecting shippers with truck owners across East Africa. Comparable to SEND as a regional digital freight marketplace serving African trade, though more weighted toward last-mile and intra-Africa trucking than ocean/air forwarding.
• KoboGo: Pan-African logistics platform providing freight, customs, and delivery services across multiple African countries. Closest direct competitor to SEND in scope — both offer end-to-end digital freight forwarding combined with customs brokerage across African corridors.

Emerging players

• Trella: Egypt/MENA digital freight marketplace connecting shippers with trucking capacity. Comparable to SEND as a regionally-focused digital freight platform applying marketplace + software model to underserved emerging-market corridors, though primarily trucking-focused.
• Leta: Kenya-based digital logistics platform focused on cargo and freight movement across East Africa. Comparable to SEND as an emerging African digital freight platform, though more regionally concentrated and more weighted toward trucking than multi-modal forwarding.

Regional players

• Imperial Logistics: Africa-focused logistics provider (now part of DP World) offering freight forwarding, customs, and contract logistics across the continent. Comparable as an Africa-specialist freight forwarder serving similar customers, but as a traditional (non-digital) incumbent rather than a platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sendDelivery
• Facebookfacebook.com/sendhq

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors8 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SEND