In a latest development, French supply chain transportation visibility provider, Shippeo announced a $32 million (£23.5 million) investment. This new round is co-led by Battery Ventures, a global, technology-focused investment firm located in London and existing investors (NGP Capital, ETF Partners, Partech and Bpifrance Digital Venture).
The European leader in real-time transportation visibility (RTTV) will use the investment to strengthen its market-leading position and continue delivering product innovation.
The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the need for supply-chain visibility, with major shippers across industries needing enhanced transparency more than ever before. With many countries in lockdown and with unpredictable border closures, companies with advanced visibility solutions managed to mitigate transport delays and the associated operational inefficiencies. Beyond tracking shipments, visibility platforms now give supply chains the data-driven transparency to meet varying customer demands in uncertain and challenging market conditions.
Doubled subscription revenues YoY
Despite the unprecedented global economic impact of Covid-19, Shippeo has more than doubled its subscription revenues year on year, while successfully increasing its customer base in 2020 with major industrial brands and fourth-party logistics providers such as Kuehne+Nagel, Total, Hager or Krone. Last October, Shippeo acquired the French company oPhone, bringing major customers in the retail and manufacturing sectors into its community. Now, Shippeo’s total workforce has more than doubled in the last 12 months, now totaling 160 employees, of which 45% work in R&D.
The core of Shippeo’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform is an API that integrates with hundreds of transportation management systems as well as telematics products, ERP and electronic logging device technology, among other data sources, to provide real-time location data, delivery tracking and a proprietary algorithm to calculate a shipment’s Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA).
Real-time transportation visibility solutions
Powered by Shippeo, companies can identify every pain point and inefficiency end-to-end across their global logistics operations and take action to optimise their processes. This results in lower transportation costs, increased customer satisfaction and more sustainable operations.
Critically, Shippeo empowers customers to seamlessly control their supply chain efficiency, offering companies the ability to consolidate customer loyalty, manage their carbon footprint and boost revenue.
Shippeo, which had previously raised £29 million since its founding in 2014, secured the new, £23.5 million investment from Battery Ventures and existing investors, NGP Capital, ETF Partners, Partech and Bpifrance Digital Venture to strengthen its market-leading position in Europe and continue delivering on product innovation. This brings the company’s total funds raised since launch to £52.05 million.
Pierre Khoury – CEO and Lucien Besse – COO of Shippeo, said: “We are pleased to welcome Battery onboard and we are honoured by its trust and confidence. The firm, founded in 1983, has a long track record of investing in prominent SaaS businesses in the U.S. and Europe and partnering with management teams to help them grow their businesses smartly. With Battery’s industrial reach and strong experience in the technology sector, Shippeo will carry out its main objectives: strengthening its leading position in Europe and boosting its edge over its competitors.”
Paul Morrissey, a Battery partner, added: “We are thrilled to partner with Shippeo to help the company grow. We have been tracking the company for several years and have always been impressed with its vision and team. Shippeo has built a leading, real-time visibility solution in Europe, serving a market that is one of the fastest-growing sub-sectors of the supply-chain software market. We believe the adoption of visibility software will only be accelerated in the wake of Covid-19. We have been impressed by how Shippeo’s management has executed to date, and we look forward to helping the team continue their success.”
Shippeo’s Multimodal Visibility Network connects FTL, LTL, parcel, and container transport and integrates 700+ TMS, telematics and ELD systems using a unique API. The platform provides instant access to real-time delivery tracking, automates customer processes and offers unmatched ETA accuracy thanks to proprietary and industry-leading algorithm developed in-house. Global brands like Carrefour, Schneider Electric, Faurecia, Saint-Gobain and Eckes Granini trust Shippeo to track more than 10 million shipments per year across 70 countries.