A maritime freight company startup has raised $2.5M to make rate management easier, reports Tech Crunch.
Shopify for maritime freight
Freight carriers often track charges in spreadsheets that they email to their customers, but pandemics make this difficult because prices are constantly fluctuating. Freightify is a start-up company called “Shopify for maritime freight” that provides white-label pricing and electronic booking tools that forwarders can use to set up their online stores, reducing the time spent on administrative tasks.
The startup announced that it has raised $2.5 million in pre-Series, a funding led by Nordic Eye Venture Capital with the participation of Tradeworks VC, Venture Catalysts, 9Unicorns and the Blume Funders Fund. The round also included repeater Vinod Kumar Talreja.
Freightify currently serves customers in 10 countries and plans to use some of its funding to expand to the United States and Europe. Its customers are freight carriers sized to process more than 100,000 shipments from 250 shipments per year.
The company was founded in 2016 by Chief Executive Officer Raghavendran Viswanathan. Freightify started as Freight Bro, a freight market, before its technology evolved into Freightify’s automated rate management system.
According to Freightify, the platform processed over $400 million in freight revenue from customers and a corresponding total volume of $2 billion.
Freight management system of freight carriers
Freightify can be integrated with the existing freight management system of freight carriers that track freight movements. When a freight carrier uses Freightify to set up an online store, customers use it to compare prices, request quotes, book online, and track shipments.
Freightify obtains price data from the APIs of marine carriers such as Maersk, CMA-CGM, and Evergreen, or automates the entry of offline contract charges from carriers without APIs.
Viswanathan told TechCrunch that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, fares were relatively static, allowing forwarders to share with customers through spreadsheets. However, the pandemic has created many new challenges.
“The sea freight industry is currently in flux,” said Viswanathan. “Since the pandemic began, the industry has fallen into a downward spiral. Fares have hit record highs for four consecutive quarters, rising 500% since early 2020.“
In addition, other factors such as Ever Given’s blockage of the Suez Canal and pandemic-related port delays make supply chain prediction even more difficult.
Important role in grease wheels
Freightify solves some of these challenges for freight carriers and their customers by displaying live pricing platforms, such as those used by travelers to compare airfares, in real time on a single screen increase.
“Freight carriers are like travel agencies in world trade,” says Viswanathan. “But air travel is not as complicated as world trade. In the supply chain, professionals need to manage cargo throughout their life cycle, and freight carriers play an important role in grease wheels.”
Freightify is working on a new product that allows customers to share data with each other, facilitating communication between time zones while reducing the amount of email that needs to be sent. A closed group product pilot will take place later this year.
“It’s exciting to follow dynamic and ambitious organizations that are likely to have a significant digital impact on international freight transport,” said Ib Drachmann, investment manager at NordicEye, in a funding statement.
Did you subscribe to our daily newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!
Source: Tech Crunch
