EXCLUSIVE- Egyptian logistics solution provider Swift Egypt is spinning off a portion of its business into a new logistics startup, FreePL, the startup’s founder and CEO and Swift Egypt’s General Manager Abdelrahman Morsy (LinkedIn) told Enterprise Logistics. Swift will focus operations on helping customers obtain import and export licenses, while FreePL will act as an end-to-end tech-driven provider of logistics support, from asset and facilities management to managing distributors and freight forwarders, Morsy told us.

About the startup: The startup will act as a logistics back office for trading companies, providing them with support on everything from regulatory procedures (including product registration, customs clearance, and shipment approvals) to transport, warehousing, and distribution, Morsy explained. Customers will manage operations via an online platform where they can track shipments and receive updates and invoices in real-time.

The big picture: “Even in the midst of a global economic downturn, both imports and exports continue to increase in Egypt and across the region,” Morsy said. “This is a market with huge room for growth and the last few years have taught us that in times of supply chain disruptions, more specialization, collaboration and consolidation are inevitable, and that is precisely the space that FreePL looks to operate in.”

What’s next? The startup wants to scale up over the next year, grow its team, and help increase exports from Egypt to the rest of the world, Morsy said. The company has already kickstarted negotiations for seed funding and aims to close a funding round by 1H 2024, he added.

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