Freight forwarding — the method of organising how and the place objects shall be shipped all over the world, and particularly the know-how that underpins that work — continues to be an enormous space of the logistics market, not least due to the large increase in e-commerce within the final 12 months, and due to the Covid-19-mandated want to easily be extra environment friendly in how issues are being moved round. Today, one of many greater gamers in that house is saying extra funding to capitalize on the chance.
Sennder, a digital freight forwarder that focuses on shifting cargo round Europe (and particularly specializing in vans and “full truck load”, FTL, freight forwarding), has raised $80 million in funding, at a valuation that the corporate confirms is now over $1 billion.
The Berlin-based startup has been on one thing of a funding tear this 12 months. In January, it introduced a $160 million spherical, and this $80 million is closing out its Series D. Baillie Gifford has led this newest Series D extension, with Hedosophia, Accel, Lakestar, HV Capital, Project A and Scania all collaborating within the earlier a part of the Series D.
The funding makes Sennder, which has now raised some $350 million, some of the well-funded of the freight forwarders, however it’s a sizzling space in the meanwhile. Another participant out of Europe, Zencargo, picked up $42 million simply final month. Other rivals embrace the likes of Flexport within the US.
Sennder is rising organically, however it’s additionally making some acquisitions to scale up — a mark not simply of the exercise available in the market but in addition the fragmentation. In May, it acquired Cars&Cargo to present it a stronger presence in France and Benelux. Other corporations that it has acquired have included Uber Freight Europe and Everoad in 2020, and it additionally operates a JV with Poste Italiane, Italy’s postal service. Altogether it now has eight hubs in Europe.
The plan shall be to make extra acquisitions of this type, the corporate mentioned, to increase a community that now covers 12,500 vans that it says works with ten German DAX 30 and eleven Euro Stoxx 50 shippers and is anticipated to maneuver greater than 1 million truckloads in 2021.
“We are delighted to have carried our momentum from 2020 into 2021, having already made one acquisition and signed several strategic partnerships,” mentioned David Nothacker, CEO and Co-Founder of sennder, in an announcement. “We look to expand our European footprint, bringing more carriers and shippers onto the sennder platform, while expanding our digital offering – such as SaaS. Acquisitions and strategic partnerships are part of this strategy – the additional funds give us the flexibility to capitalize on the right opportunities. Baillie Gifford has backed a wave of revolutionary tech companies; their commitment to sennder is a vote of confidence in our team, technology, and business model.”
Stephen Paice, Co-manager, Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust PLC, added: “We are delighted to join the sennder team on its journey to disrupt Europe’s logistics industry. We strongly believe its technology has the potential to create tremendous value for stakeholders and society in an industry plagued with inefficiencies and needless CO2 emissions. What’s particularly impressive, beyond the progress shown so far, is the purpose-driven and entrepreneurial mind-set instilled within the company. This will no doubt be an important factor for long-term success.”
