In its efforts to be a major player for delivery in the Southeast Asia region, Teleport, the logistics venture of airasia, has invested in Kargo Technologies (Kargo), Indonesia’s largest trucking marketplace, in the form of convertible notes.

In a statement, Teleport said this acquisition was funded through Teleport's internally generated sources. 

It added that the investment connects Kargo’s trucking network to Teleport's infrastructure, expanding Teleport’s mid-mile capabilities beyond just air cargo.

Southeast Asia expansion

"In line with Teleport's mission to move things across Southeast Asia better than anybody else, the partnership with Kargo unlocks an opportunity to combine air connectivity with trucking capabilities on the ground, leveraging  strong technology and enhancing the network," Teleport said, adding that for Indonesia, in particular, given its archipelagic geography and topography, the most effective way to connect these cities is to operate a "middle mile" service connecting  both land and air.

It noted that for Kargo, Teleport's regional presence, vast network will also assist them to expand their footprint rapidly across the region.

Teleport said the partnership will also support Teleport’s commitment to making 24 hour deliveries possible using the multi-modal routes across the archipelago. 

Pete Chareonwongsak, CEO of Teleport said the Kargo partnership "make sense for both parties."

"It has always been our goal to deliver with speed at low cost and to serve the underserved, which is why we acknowledge that the fastest-growing cities of the future will be smaller 'middleweight' cities, rather than larger primary cities. To support this, we need to look beyond the AirAsia network and air transportation to connect these emerging cities. With our strengths combined through air and land, this partnership with Kargo sets us up to move things across Southeast Asia better than anybody else," Chareonwongsak said.

Tiger Fang, co-founder and CEO of Kargo, for his part said "the strategic partnership with Teleport will  help us become multi-modal, expanding in the value chain horizontally. We expect the partnership to mutually benefit both parties by growing each other’s presence in South East Asia in 2022 as we look to solve the evergreen logistics issue in the region."

Kargo Technologies has over 75,000 trucks in its network and is digitalising logistics for shippers and transporters.

Kargo noted that it will use the funds from the transaction to support the company’s continued growth for end-to-end freight coverage in the B2B space and for expansion to other cities in the region in conjunction with Teleport.