TUNL, an e-commerce shipping platform that cuts international shipping costs by 50 to 80%, has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding from entities like Founders Factory Africa, Digital Africa Ventures, E4E Africa, and Jozi Angels. This investment will fuel TUNL’s growth in South Africa and aid its expansion into other key African and emerging markets.
The company has seen a 35% monthly growth since its inception, attracting over 700 merchants to its shipping club, with numbers doubling in Q3 2023.
In 2023, TUNL’s merchants have dispatched over 11,000 international parcels, contributing to exports from South Africa valued at over R24 million.
Founded in 2022 by Matthew Davey and Craig Lowman, TUNL focuses on empowering SMEs in emerging markets through affordable cross-border trade, thereby fostering sustainable livelihoods and attracting foreign currency.
By using TUNL, merchants can offer competitive shipping rates, enhancing customer conversion rates in international markets.
“Our pricing is completely transparent and democratised. We want to ensure that every business, large or small, can have an equal chance to convert overseas sales by reducing the cost of shipping as much as possible,” says Lowman.
As part of TUNL’s drive towards pricing transparency, it has recently launched AI-driven product classification, which forms the basis for full landed cost pricing (parcel delivery with duties and taxes prepaid) – a first-of-its-kind service for South African e-commerce.
“We are excited to be working with this fantastic group of investors who share our vision,” says Davey. “Their pan-African experience will continue to be a huge boost to TUNL as we scale,” adds Lowman
