In 2020, the FreightTech startup FreightBro became the first platform to integrate into Maersk Spot, an online product for the global shipper that simplified the booking process for freight forwarders. This integration gave FreightBro’s customers access to real-time rates, backed by guaranteed container availability, providing an innovative way for Asian shippers to procure the global movement of their products.
On Tuesday, rebranded as Freightify, the rate management platform announced it has secured $2.5 million in pre-Series A funding led by Nordic Eye Venture Capital with participation from Tradeworks VC, Venture Catalysts, 9Unicorns and Blue Founders Fund.
Freightify existing investor and board member Vinod Kumar Talreja, group director and board member of Landmark Group, one of the largest retail and hospitality organizations in Asia, participated in the round as well.
With its new name and new funds, the company looks to expand its white-label services to the United States and Europe.
“We founded Freightify with the belief that the future of technology in freight forwarding should be democratized and made available for everyone,” said Freightify co-founder and CEO Raghavendran Viswanathan. “The current capital expansion from the right partners cements this belief and helps us add value to the maritime industry across the world.”
Funding details: Freightify
| Funding amount | $2.5 million |
| Funding round | pre-Series A |
| Lead investor | Nordic Eye Venture Capital |
| Secondary investors | Tradeworks VC, Venture Catalysts, 9Unicorns, Blue Founders Fund and Vinod Kumar Talreja |
| Business goals for the round | Improve product suite and expand into U.S. and Europe |
| Total funding | $6 million |
With Viswanathan’s background in creating fintech tools to improve customer experience and fellow co-founders Anand Babu and Mohammed Zakkiria’s combined decades of experience working for companies like DHL, Panalpina and Maersk, the innovators aim to create a full digital solution for freight forwarders.
Not only does the platform currently provide real-time pricing from integrations with ocean carriers like Maersk, CMA-CGM and Evergreen, the customizable platform integrates with transportation management systems for small and medium-size freight forwarders that are looking to bring their customers a digital experience to booking global shipments.
These white-label systems have been attractive for Freightify’s investors who understand the difficulties of building these solutions in-house.
“We invest in ‘Digital Trade Enablers’ that drive trade through innovation, by solving important problems in logistics and e-commerce,” said Tradeworks CEO Niklas Holck. “One of these important problems is the lack of structured commercial data that can be used across the freight forwarding value chain, from freight rate procurement, standardization, automation and quotation, to e-bookings and visibility.”
With $400 million in freight revenue and $2 billion of gross merchandise volume integrated into the company’s platform, Freightify has the opportunity to leverage these real-time rates to bring better pricing to companies experiencing container tightness in the current global market.
Aside from global expansion, the company plans to continue investing in its product suite to make online maritime booking as simple as its e-commerce name inspiration, Shopify (NYSE:SHOP).
“We encourage the global outlook and are impressed about the common vision for the company,” said Ib Drachmann, investment manager at Nordic Eye. “[It’s] exciting to follow a dynamic and ambitious organization that has great chances of making a huge digital impact in international freight forwarding.”
You may also enjoy:
4 challenges of drayage — and the FreightTech companies solving them
GoBOLT, LocoNav build on India’s burgeoning supply chain investments
Flexport, Convoy partnership designed for ‘full end-to-end visibility’