Rotterdam-based Shypple, a digital freight forwarding platform, has announced today that it has raised €25.5M in new funding so far this year, to accelerate its growth and innovation in the freight forwarding industry. The recently closed “Series A2” funding of €18.5M follows the earlier Series A funding announced in April 2021, when €7.14M was raised.
Additionally, the digital freight forwarding platform has also announced the acquisition of Milestone, a European company in perishable logistics. With this acquisition, Shypple looks to accelerate its revenue and network growth, and increase its global presence, adding offices in Asia, Central America, and Europe.
Speaking on the development, Jarell Habets, founder and CEO of Shypple, says, “With the acquisition of Milestone, we have strengthened our capabilities in the perishables and air freight forwarding markets to a globally competitive position. We’re now able to serve the needs of large perishable goods shippers in Europe, Latin America, and the Asian trade lanes, who are looking for a digital freight forwarding solution.”
The company’s existing investors who participated in the Series A round have increased their stakes in Shypple. These investors include Dutch Founders Fund, Newtown Partners (via the Imperial Venture Fund), InnovationQuarter and BOM Brabant Ventures. Moreover, the Milestone executives also took part in the funding with a multi-million-euro investment, showing their confidence in the future with Shypple.
Shypple’s vision is to make global trade virtually frictionless and therefore easier and cheaper to conduct. The company’s digital freight forwarding service offers 24/7 real-time insights on status and location for all product orders and shipments. It offers businesses insights that are configurable per stakeholder and party. All data is instantly available and standard reports on lead times, forwarder performance, and costs.
The company connects over 3,000 businesses to manage, improve as well as provide end-to-end transparency and complete control over their supply chain. This creates value through increased efficiency, direct transport cost savings, minimising errors, performance improvements of suppliers and forwarders, and better consolidations, optimising global trade.
Shypple claims that its technology also helps companies to increase their operational FTE efficiency by 30 per cent. Founded in 2016 by Jarell Habets, the company is also home to Europe’s largest port, with close proximity to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, and has offices in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Shanghai.
Milestone, founded in 2004, is an independent global freight forwarder, specialising in the field of transporting perishables. The company has a network of partners and a client base of more than 450 customers. It has over 100 employees and offices at Schiphol Airport and Capelle a/d IJssel in the Netherlands, as well as in Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Thailand, and Hong Kong. With this acquisition, Shypple became the first digital forwarder for perishables, simultaneously expanding its presence in Asia, with seven offices in China, and also adding new locations throughout Europe and Central America. Shyppe’s revenue is expected to reach €250M by 2022.
Co van Es and Juri Falandt, Founders and CEOs of Milestone, say “We are giving a huge boost to the digitalisation of our services by combining our knowledge of perishable transport with the digital capabilities of Shypple. As a result, our customers immediately benefit from the visibility, consistency, and reliability that will enable them to confidently optimise their global trading operations. This is hugely important in an intercontinental market where efficiency and access to the latest freight information is essential.”
