Founder Fridays : Volo

What if a business could track every delivery by the minute, know exactly where a parcel was and give a customer a reliable arrival time? What if the same technology helping businesses move goods could also help drivers build a financial record, making it easier for them to access financing for an electric motorcycle?

These are the possibilities that Cindy Nyabura and her co-founders are exploring at Volo Africa, a logistics technology company working to connect businesses, drivers and delivery services. Its ambition extends beyond tracking parcels to helping drivers build stronger financial records and exploring how logistics data could support access to electric mobility.

Volo Africa’s journey into logistics began with a different idea. Cindy and her co-founders initially explored building a ride-hailing platform that would give drivers a 50% share of profits. But as they worked through the concept, they began looking beyond getting people from one place to another and considered the challenges drivers faced in earning a living.

That exploration led them towards deliveries, where another problem stood out: businesses and customers often had little visibility into what happened to goods once a driver collected them. A small business selling through WhatsApp or Facebook Marketplace, for example, could arrange a delivery but still struggle to tell a customer where the parcel was or when it would arrive.

For Cindy, this was an opportunity to build something that addressed the needs of several people in the delivery process. Volo Africa began developing a platform that would help businesses follow their orders, give drivers better tools to manage deliveries and make the movement of goods easier to track. The idea grew from the founders’ initial interest in improving drivers’ livelihoods into a wider effort to solve practical problems in logistics.

Making Deliveries Easier to Manage

Volo Africa combines a mobile application for drivers with a web dashboard for businesses and application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow e-commerce platforms to integrate delivery services.

Businesses can monitor deliveries, manage orders and access reports about their operations. The platform supports multiple stops and route optimisation, helping drivers organise their schedules more efficiently.

Payment arrangements can also accommodate different business needs. A company can cover the delivery cost, share it with the customer or pass the full charge on to the customer, she said.

The reporting tools provide information about order patterns, delivery locations and demand, helping businesses make decisions about how they organise deliveries and allocate resources.

Cindy explains that the company is working with drivers and fleet managers to develop and test its technology. Their feedback helps the team identify practical issues involving routes, mapping and delivery costs.

Cindy also says working with drivers and fleet managers has helped the team identify practical problems with routes, mapping and delivery costs. Convincing businesses to try a new service is another challenge, particularly when they already work with established delivery providers. For Volo Africa, building trust means showing businesses how its platform can help them manage deliveries more effectively.

Turning Drivers’ Earnings into Financial Evidence

For Cindy, logistics technology can do more than improve the movement of goods. It could also help drivers build a record of their economic activity.

Drivers may earn money consistently but still struggle to demonstrate their financial position when applying for formal financing. Reliable records of delivery activity and earnings could help them present a clearer picture of their income to banks and other lenders.

This could become particularly useful as drivers consider switching to electric motorcycles, where the upfront purchase price remains a barrier.

Cindy cited an electric two-wheeler costing at least KSh250,000 and equipped with two batteries, each offering a reported range of approximately 90 kilometres. For drivers who cannot afford to pay the full price upfront, financing could determine whether switching is possible.

Volo Africa is exploring partnerships in electric mobility and connecting drivers with manufacturers. The company sees an opportunity for manufacturers and financial institutions to develop financing arrangements informed by drivers’ earnings and delivery activity.

Cindy also discussed environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting through partners, giving businesses a way to account for aspects of their logistics operations, including environmental considerations.

Building on a Bootstrapped Model

Volo Africa has grown without taking on debt, requiring the team to manage spending carefully and decide where limited resources will have the greatest impact.

Cindy is not opposed to venture capital, but she believes founders should consider whether the financing they pursue fits their business model. Raising large sums is not necessarily the starting point for every company.

“You do not have to start a logistics company with ten vehicles,” she explained. “You can start with one.”

For Volo Africa, this approach means controlling costs while developing its product, building partnerships and winning customers in a sector where logistics operations can demand significant resources.

From Sales to Building a Technology Business

Cindy’s path into entrepreneurship began long before Volo Africa. She grew up watching her mother sell handmade products at a market, where she observed how her mother engaged customers and handled sales.

At university, Cindy gained further experience through sales work, including outdoor sales. Her interest later expanded into business operations and development, prompting her to study how companies grew and why others failed.

Her involvement with Volo Africa developed after the other founders approached her to contribute to the marketing and business side of the venture. As she became more involved, her curiosity drew her into other aspects of the company.

She discovered that developing a product was only part of building a business. Partner alignment and corporate contract negotiations can take months, as companies assess proposals and work through commercial terms. Even a useful technology product does not automatically translate into a signed agreement.

Cindy says software development can be more straightforward when a company has capable developers. Navigating business relationships, understanding customer needs and securing partnerships can prove more difficult.

Connecting Logistics Across African Borders

Volo Africa’s long-term ambition extends beyond individual deliveries. Cindy wants to connect logistics providers, warehouses, trucks, fleet operators and last-mile delivery companies through systems that make shipments easier to track across different stages of a journey.

A shipment arriving at the Port of Mombasa from China, for example, may pass through several transport and handling arrangements. Tracking it becomes more difficult when the companies involved rely on separate systems.

Cross-border trade adds further complications. Businesses operating in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda must navigate differences in trade policies, operational requirements and packaging rules, which can make moving goods between markets more complicated.

Cindy believes African businesses need to understand the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and prepare to operate across national borders.

For a logistics technology company, connecting these markets requires different service providers and systems to communicate, giving businesses better visibility as goods move between countries and transport operators.

Learning Through Failure

Cindy began building the business at 28 and turned 30 during the journey. She says the experience has made her more confident in boardrooms, contract negotiations and conversations with potential partners.

Entrepreneurship has also taught her to become more comfortable with uncertainty. Founders often have to make decisions before every detail is clear, learn from setbacks and keep moving.

Her advice to other entrepreneurs is direct: “Learn fast, fail even faster.”

She also encourages founders not to let fear of other people’s opinions prevent them from pursuing an idea. Building a business involves testing assumptions, making decisions and accepting that not every attempt will succeed.

At Volo Africa, Cindy is working to make deliveries easier to manage while exploring how logistics data could help drivers access financing and electric motorcycles. Her longer-term ambition is to connect the different parts of the delivery chain, making shipments easier to follow from warehouses and transport networks to their final destinations.