TUNL, a South African parcel shipping platform has raised a seed round to unlock shipping for African manufacturers, makers and merchants.
“We are thrilled to share that we’ve raised a seed round led by E4EAfrica, together with Jonathan Smit, Jozi Angels and an SPV arranged by Utopia Capital Management,” said Craig Lowman, co-founder at TUNL, “Together with the continued support of our other early backers, 54 Collective and Digital Africa Ventures, this investment will continue to drive our rapid growth as we empower South African SMEs to thrive in the global marketplace.”
To make it simple for every business, large or small to an equal chance to convert overseas sales, TUNL reduces the costs and friction of international shipping via its platform and tools such as TUNL Economy, its own courier service from South Africa to the US. TUNL Economy is at least 50% more affordable, end-to-end tracked, fully insured.
The TUNL platform also offers Express courier with top global couriers to internationally destinations at affordable prices compared to market rates.
Founded in 2021 by Matthew Davey and Craig Lowman with a mission to support SMEs to export more by removing the barriers to international selling and shipping, the startup now supports over 1,400 merchants in reaching their customers all over the world.
In December 2023, TUNL secured $1 million in pre-seed funding from investors, including Founders Factory Africa, Digital Africa Ventures, E4E Africa, and Jozi Angels. CEO Matthew Davey and COO Craig Lowman founded the company after Davey faced shipping challenges as the managing director of a Dutch company that imported South African engineering materials into Europe.