The Dutch startup Quicargo, an online platform connecting (partially) empty trucks to any business that needs transportation, secured a round of seed funding of €900k from a group of Dutch and German logistics experts and angel investors. With the fresh capital from angels, to be followed by an international VC round, the online platform will launch its services internationally, starting in Belgium (the Antwerp- and Ghent-area) and Germany (the Ruhr-area).
Up until now, the Dutch startup tackled inefficiency in the road freight industry within the Netherlands by bringing together transport companies and businesses that require immediate and reliable shipping. As 50% of the 6 million trucks in Europa run (partially) empty, connecting demand and supply helps transport companies to increase profitability.
Now, after a fruitful debut in the Dutch market, the young company secured €900k in seed funding to bring its platform to Belgium and Germany. According to CBS , 83% of the Dutch road freight traffic already goes to those two countries.
Founder and CEO of the startup, Avishai Trabelsi, states: “As a start, we will set up offices in the Antwerp- and Ruhr-area, mainly because of their key position as a logistics hub and the fact that we see an organic growth of our current clients to these areas. We already help deliver to those areas, and the interconnectivity with Dutch transport hubs Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Venlo is outstanding, in fact we see it as the same logistic ecosystem. For us, other than enrolling new staff members, it requires little effort to go to these places and do pick-ups as well. Deliveries to both areas, for instance, already accumulate to 17% of our revenue.”
After a testing phase that ended in August last year, Quicargo has slightly pivoted its business model. Trabelsi added: “Our biggest lesson learned is that, unlike other platforms in the market, we’re not an ‘Uber for trucks’. Far from it. Logistics companies and especially the planners in the trucking companies are overloaded with work and different transport management software, therefore they are not that eager to change their current workflow by using new interfaces, apps or external software. We embed our technology into existing systems and workflows, and as a result, we can connect with new shipping providers within 24 hours. We also build a fair dynamic pricing algorithm, enabling tailor made matching within 60 seconds. With the Quicargo-platform, we substantially lessen the administrative burden for them by adding payments and insurance options. I am proud that already after 7 months we see that our clients use the generated data to improve their business performance, and at the same time we all decrease the CO2 footprint and congestion on the road.”
Quicargo officially launched in the Netherlands in September 2017 after a successful ten-month trial-period. Since then, the number of shipments and revenue grew 27% month-on-month on average, amounting to thousands of transactions. The startup currently connects almost 1.000 businesses to roughly 5000 trucks from 200 carriers. Up until now, Quicargo has saved up to 120.000 km of empty truck space on the road and thereby reduced CO2 emission with 3% inside our network.
By the way: If you’re interested to join a fast-growing startup like Quicargo, make sure to check out the EU-Startups Job Board.
