From the LoadStar:
New funds give Sennder and Shippeo scope to progress digital supply chains
European freight tech start-ups saw nearly €200m in new investment this week in two deals that sent company valuations soaring at Sennder and Shippeo.
Berlin-headquartered digital road freight forwarder sennder raised €160m ($194m) in a series D financing from investors including Accel, Lakestar, HV Capital, Project A and Scania, pushing its valuation to over €1bn.
The company said it would invest $100m into expanding the 200-strong technology team to “accelerate research and development into the automation, digitalisation, optimisation and decarbonisation of road freight”.
It added that funds would also go into expansion into new European markets, saying “sennder will focus on replicating the success it has had with Poste Italiane”, where joint venture helped the business save 6% of its €100m annual spending. “sennder is also enjoying successful working partnerships with Scania and Siemens,” it added.
These investments follow last June’s merger with French peer Everoad and September’s acquisition of Uber Freight’s European business.
David Nothacker, Sennder CEO and co-founder, added: “The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of a digitalised logistics industry. Throughout 2020, we helped our carriers increase their profitability by enhancing operating margins by up to 80% during a challenging time.”
Meanwhile, French supply chain visibility provider Shippeo yesterday announced it had raised $32m in new investment led by Battery Ventures....
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