Startup Review: Neohaul Could Track Trucks and Detect Changes in Cargo Weight at Every Time, But is that Enough?

Neohaul Technologies is a telematics startup that was launched in 2018 by Bright Williams. The company is based in Lagos and was established after Williams had worked in the logistics industry as an analyst and observed some challenges in the sector.

Getting accurate real-time information about trucks and other assets of logistics companies is an issue if the only way to obtain the information is to contact drivers directly.

Moreso, getting information from drivers when they are on the job endangers them. Furthermore, there’s also the problem of uncertainty as there is no way of establishing if the driver is being truthful or not.

That is why the startup created Haulr, its own technology, to solve the problem.

What Haulr does and how it does it

Haulr’s solution is an IoT-based software that is able to obtain the location of moving assets as well as the weight per time. The information obtained is used to track the asset while it is operating and determine how it is being used.

For example, if a truck and the load it is carrying is supposed to weigh 10 tonnes throughout the duration of a trip and at some point, it weighs 11 tonnes, the information obtained using Haulr’s tech will tell the logistics company that additional weight was added.

The company will also be able to tell where the extra load was added to its asset. Activities like illegal haulage and cargo theft can be prevented or detected as soon as they happen. Data on the efficiency of the asset can be compiled and used when making decisions regarding the asset and drivers.

For logistics companies that

allow Neohaul access their data, the startup makes the availability of trucks known to potential clients and opens up other markets to do business in. The dashboard given to logistics companies makes documentation of the efficiency of assets easier to share to investors and stakeholders.

Raising N15 million in grants

Since Neohaul started operations in 2018, it has received grants from three different organisations. The first was $5,000 from the Tony Elumelu Foundation. It also received grants from the Facebook Accelerator and Zenith Bank in 2019.

The startup came second place at the Zenith bank hackathon for startups and won N6 million as the first runner up. From the Facebook accelerator, it received $20,000. At the rate of N360 to $1, the startup raised about N15 million in 2019. No funding round has been announced involving Neohaul so far in 2020.

Competitors and Pricing

In the telematics space, Haulr’s competition in Nigeria include Spytrac Telematics, Concept Nova, Nova Track and Mix Telematics.

29-year old Concept Nova also provides fleet management and tracking services for businesses in Africa. It received the Global 100 awards in 2019 for its tech solutions. In addition to fleet management, its delivery management system and fuel control system are some of the innovative solutions that Neohaul does not provide.

Nova Track Limited helps users monitor their family, staff, as well as manage their fleet. Spytrac Telematics provides similar asset securing services but also makes its software available to other fleet managing companies for a fee. Spytrac is currently in the process of expanding into hardware manufacturing for the telematics industry.

Neohaul charges a one-time fee for its hardware and then a monthly subscription fee to gain access to its online platform.

Though an innovative company, Neohaul’s service list is short compared to that of its competitors. This allows the competitors to be able to meet the needs of client-businesses on a multi-faceted level that Neohaul currently can not, as well have a larger field where they can innovate.