Treepz, Nigeria’s corporate travel startup, has officially launched in Canada, with the University of Toronto’s sponsored African Impact Initiative as its first client partnership.
Treepz also has the full support from the Mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, and organisations like the World Trade Center’s TAP program by Black Entrepreneurship Alliance, and the Brampton Entrepreneurs program.
According to Treepz’s CEO, Onyeka Akumah, “The launch of Treepz Canada is a strong positive statement of intent for not just our company but how we represent all African startups. We can truly build globally acceptable and reputable brands right from the streets of Lagos… It’s still day one, and we have approached this launch like the first day we launched on the 16th of September, 2019, with humility, hunger, and drive to get more done for our customers.”
From its humble beginnings in Nigeria, Treepz now operates in 25 cities across 5 countries — including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and now, Canada with a total of over 6 million customers served to date.
In 2021, Treepz went through the Techstars Toronto accelerator, where it met with the City of Brampton team at the time, and its CEO, Onyeka Akumah, met virtually with Mayor Patrick Brown to discuss a future where the company would expand to Canada. Since then, Treepz has gone on to attract several investors and venture capitalists from Canada to support its growth in other markets, including its expansion to Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya two years ago.
With more than 16.5 million Canadians commuting to work every day, according to Statistique Canada, while 38.7 million traveled out of Canada for holidays in 2024 alone, this fueled Treepz’s interest to enter into the North American market, starting first with Canada. The company has now received more support from several organisations in Canada to not just establish its Global Headquarters in Ontario Province of the country but also commence operations.
“Treepz has brilliant founders. Six million users in its first five years across multiple countries? It’s purely impressive. Corporate mobility is part of the global logistics conversation, and they are at the heart of it. If you can handle traffic in Lagos, you can handle it anywhere in the world. Treepz, welcome to Brampton. Welcome home,” said Mayor Patrick Brown.
To commence operations, Treepz announced a 2-year partnership with the African Impact Initiative, supported by the University of Toronto at its launch of Treepz Canada.
This partnership will see Treepz provide corporate travel solutions to this group, who will be traveling to 4 African countries every year from more than countries globally, including Canada. Treepz will provide all flights, accommodation, experience, and its trademark ground transportation service across South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, and Rwanda.
Treepz chose to launch its Canada operations at the City Hall in Brampton, and Mayor Patrick Brown warmly welcomed its founders, members of the board of directors at Treepz, and team members. He expressed his full support and excitement for what this launch means to him and Bram