With global supply chains plagued by bottlenecks, lockdowns and other disruptions, investors are continuing to place their bets on digital forwarding startups, according to a recent Transport Intelligence (Ti) report. It is estimated that between January and March this year, funding for digital forwarding startups amounted to around $1.2 billion. “The total amount of investment during the first quarter of 2022 is already 50% higher than the full year of 2021. One of the reasons behind this surge is that investors have been holding on to their cash during the pandemic due to Covid-related uncertainty, but have since then re-entered the logistics space,” reads the report.Most of the capital, however, is not being directed to new startups entering the freight forwarding space but continues to f low toward later-stage companies. According to Ti, a combination of drivers is behind the rising tide of funding f lowing into the digital freight forwarding sector. These include its evident growth potential, the increased focus on digital transformation, and the structure of the freight forwarding market. Another area of ongoing growth is the use of digital freight booking platforms such as Freightos, which recently announced its digital bookings had increased by 300% year-over-year in 2021. While these digital solutions are growing in popularity and are increasingly being deployed, they are not without challenges.With large shippers on board comes more complexity and more demand for features and functions that suit large customers.
