TUNL to boost e-com export surge from SA after securing new funding
The South Africa-based shipping platform for e-commerce exporters has raised a seed funding round led by E4E Africa.
In a funding round arranged by Utopia Capital Management, the South African shipping platform for e-commerce exporters has secured a seed round led by E4E Africa, along with a group of other investors, including Jonathan Smit (exited Payfast), Jozi Angels, and an SPV. With this funding, TUNL aims to better help South Africa-based SMEs export their products to anywhere in the world.
With a mission to support SMEs in exporting more by removing barriers to international selling and shipping, TUNL now supports over 1,400 merchants from South Africa. In a recent LinkedIn post, the startups claimed that brands like “Versus Socks, Freedom of Movement, Ciovita, Bambalam, and Noodle and Bun have seen transformative results using TUNL to supercharge their international sales.”
According to E4E Africa, “Their dedication (TUNL) to helping local businesses access global markets perfectly aligns with E4E Africa's mission of fostering sustainable growth across the continent.” One of the startup’s early investors – 54 Collective – mentioned that the capital from new seed round funding will continue driving TUNL’s rapid growth in the South African market and support product expansion into international payments and marketing support for SMEs.
54 Collective states that TUNL’s platform offers 50 to 80% savings on international shipping costs, driven by AI product classification tech, novel global duty and tax tools, and great customer support, providing SMEs with a streamlined and automated export shipping experience.
Moreover, “Since its last funding round in late 2023, TUNL has doubled monthly revenue and parcel volumes, supporting over 1,350 SMEs in a variety of sectors,” mentioned 54 Collective in a recent blog post. The investing firm’s Co-founder and Chief Portfolio Officer Sam Sturm added, “We invested early in TUNL because we’ve always thought that the problems they’re solving for South African merchants are global problems. We’re deep believers in what they’ve built so far and are excited for what’s next.”