Newtown Partners and Imperial have launched a $20 million fund for logistics startups across Africa and Europe. The fund is available for innovative startups with high-growth potential across the logistics supply chain.

In 2014, Vinny Lingham and Llew Claasen founded Newtown Partners, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm. With this partnership, Newtown aims to disrupt the logistics sector for the next five to ten years. The program will identify and invest in logistics startups that are leveraging emerging technologies to scale. Newtown Partners will manage and closely monitor the recipients of the fund.

Imperial, on the other hand, is a logistics firm that is listed among the top 30 global logistics company. It employs over 27000 people across 32 countries. In this partnership, it will act as an investor and market access provider. This investment in emerging startups will position it as a major industry player that is ahead of competitors.

“By adopting a pragmatic approach to disruptive innovation, we are well-positioned to identify how Imperial’s business will change over the next few years, and enable them to not just weather the inevitable disruption to their industry, but to leverage this change for competitive advantage,” said Llew Claasen, co-founder and Managing Partner Newtown Partners.