Indian-born entrepreneur wants to revolutionise South African e-commerce logistics
Sahil Affriya told MyBroadband that his vision is to provide every South African with the technology to easily start their own e-commerce business by facilitating logistics.
On Thursday, his company, Shiprazor, received a R44 million investment from Norrsken22, one of Africa’s largest VC firms, to further this goal.
Born in India, in a region about 150 km from Delhi, Affriya is a serial founder and entrepreneur, with a childhood marked by discipline.
His mother’s side of the family “are all in business,” while his father’s side of the family were members of the Indian army and defence forces.
Affriya studied at the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology in Delhi, where he earned his B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering.
His extensive educational background also included a Master of Technology degree in Software Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science.
Around this time, Affriya founded his first startup, a business called “Mechanic Card,” a platform that connected tier 1 and tier 2 manufacturers directly to mechanics.
“An aggregator of suppliers of automotive parts,” he said. The DNA of this platform would influence his future work on aggregator platforms, like Shiprazor.
Affriya also holds a Master’s Degree in Human Rights from the Indian Institute of Human Rights and an MBA from the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business.
He told us that studying at UCT was a strategic choice, driven by a need to network with up-and-coming South African entrepreneurs.
At UCT, he “made a lot of friends and a lot of good memories” and said the overall experience helped him gain a better understanding of business.
His time at the university helped Affriya transition from a tech and operations background to a more well-rounded entrepreneur. His time at the university launched his career in South Africa.
He started at Cape Town venture capital firm Savant, where he began as an intern in 2021, and left as a Principal in 2023. Upon his departure, he founded Shiprazor.
When asked why he chose to launch his logistics platform in South Africa, Affriya said that the country had the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce ecosystem.
Apart from that, his work in South Africa was “synergistic.” He said that he lives and works in South Africa because he fell in love with the country.
“When I came to South Africa for the first time, I came on my honeymoon. And on that honeymoon, my wife and I decided to stay,” he said.
“I have a very loving and passionate relationship with South Africa. I’m freaking enjoying it. I don’t think I can live anywhere else.”
R44 million to build an intelligent logistics layer for South African e-commerce
Nivesh Pather, investments principal at Norrsken22, said that Africa’s e-commerce market has significant potential, but remains fragmented and unoptimised.
“Shiprazor is building the intelligent infrastructure layer that African merchants have been missing — and they’re doing it with a deep understanding of how this market actually works,” he said.
Affriya explained that Shiprazor is an aggregator of courier and logistics services, bringing together companies to meet the logistics needs of small, medium, and large businesses.
He said that e-commerce companies in South Africa have diverse needs and often require different logistics services to meet them. Finding these different services is costly and time-consuming.
For example, merchants may require the ability to ship abroad, to deliver to residents and drop-off points, to deliver overnight to the next day, or to make timed deliveries.
Shiprazor sought to simplify these processes and reduce costs, as e-commerce firms pick and choose from different logistics service providers on the platform to meet their specific needs.
The platform secured “very high preferred rates” through its aggregated network of over 25 courier companies, including giants such as The Courier Guy, Fastway, RAM, and other express services.
In return, Shiprazor would handle customer support and add-ons, such as liability protection, for these courier services.
“They get an extra layer of customer support from us. We become the first filter of any kind of query that comes out, and we get a one-to-one solution with them,” Affriya said.
“Our job is to be the single intelligent logistics layer that helps South African merchants ship more, for less, while giving their customers a better experience at every step.”
He said that the new funding from Norrsken22 would allow his team to move faster on all of it.
More photos of Sahil Affriya and Shiprazor
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