Zencargo raises $20m to transform logistics

The digital freight forwarder offers wholesalers instant quotes and booking, real-time shipment tracking, paperless cloud management and customer service on one platform.

The funding round was led by European investor HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, along with DST Global, Pentland Ventures and previous investors Samos, LocalGlobe and Picus Capital.

Founded in 2017 by Alex Hersham, Richard Fattal and Jan Riethmayer, Zencargo aims to transform supply chain management through software and automation.

Zencargo has developed a platform that digitises the end-to-end process and uses big data to help supply chain teams make more informed decisions, shorten lead times, increase supply chain agility and reduce working capital.

According to a recent study by McKinsey, digitising the supply chain delivers the highest ROI of any initiative and grows revenue by 3.2%.

“Failing to digitise the supply chain is holding back global businesses, with $1.1tn left on the table from stock-outs and inventory mistakes,” said Alex Hersham, co-founder and chief executive of Zencargo. “Our mission is to change this. Business leaders want increased agility in their supply chain and through our platform we are seeing customers drive cost and working capital improvements in their first few months of adoption by unlocking supply chain insights.”

Headquartered in London, the company has grown six-fold over the past year and has begun creating an international office network. Zencargo has worked with a range of customers, including online smoothie retailer Natural Blender, wool trader G Modiano and in-flight design firm Galileo Watermark

With the investment, Zencargo plans to expand its core technology platform and recently formed supply chain analytics and insights group.

Zencargo said the aim of this group is to “leverage its proprietary predictive analytics and machine learning technologies to partner with clients and set a standard for excellence across the breadth of the supply chain”.

Jan Riethmayer, co-founder and chief technical officer at Zencargo, commented: “Getting the right products on the shelf at the right time is a vital concern for most businesses.

“Our technology enables businesses to collaborate in real-time with thousands of suppliers around the world and make informed decisions about their supply chain – from giving a complete consolidation picture to unlocking savings on freight cost and CO2 emissions, optimising load fill, boosting container utilisation, and reducing the amount of energy wasted and emissions created by shipping air around the world.”

Christian Saller, general partner at HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, added: “We’re excited to be working with the Zencargo team. The size of opportunity in this space is enormous and we believe that Zencargo’s approach of bringing automation and a single version of truth to the supply chain will be transformative for customers.”

Dan Hughes, CEO of LIQUID Real Estate Innovation, spoke of the impact on the property sector: “We have seen in recent years technology starting to change the property sector and there has been increased focus on industrial and logistics markets.

“This is an area of the sector where there is not only growing demand and complexity, but also a significant scope for automation and increased efficiency. The recent funding raised by Zencargo is a good demonstration of the potential growth in this space.”