All Briefings

Supply chain & logistics (2024)

Turning 'Lost in Transit' into 'Right on Time'

Last updated: 29 May 2024

Market 101

The Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict have put increasing pressure on global supply chains in the last few years. The war in Ukraine has led the EU to plan for a reduction in its dependence on Russian oil. The proximity of the Suez Canal — one of the world’s busiest shipping routes — to Israel has led to many shipping companies rerouting vessels 3,500 nautical miles around the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of South Africa (adding an extra week to their journey). Egyptian authorities said revenue in January 2024 from the Suez Canal had fallen 50% compared with the same period in 2023. The Strait of Hormuz — which is between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, responsible for the transport of a fifth of global oil — is also at risk of being blocked by Iran, which would see oil prices surge.

Geopolitical tensions mean it’s become more critical to diversify supply chains. It’s become essential for companies to get timely insights on unforeseen supply chain disruptions and plan their inventory and purchasing strategy accordingly to reduce day-to-day holdups. French startup Flowlity is one company helping with that. It offers an end-to-end supply chain planning SaaS solution leveraging AI to optimise supply and inventory strategies.

Other startups building in the supply chain and logistics sector also have an opportunity to capitalise on an appetite for tech solutions to the problem. According to a recent McKinsey survey of 250 shipping and logistics providers, 87% of shippers reported maintaining or growing their technology investments between 2020 and 2023, and 93% said they plan to maintain or increase their spending over the next three years.

Supply chain and logistics startups had a bumper 2022, pulling in $3bn in funding but activity slowed in 2023 to $965m. Things haven’t quite bounced back in the first five months of 2024 either, with startups raising $264.3m. Given macro trends, expect companies to continue investing in tech solutions and funding to revive later in the year.

Early stage market map

Key facts

62%

of supply chain leaders think there is a problem in new skill development1

425,000

heavy goods vehicle driver shortfall in Europe2

86%

C-level executives are planning fundamental changes owing to current geopolitical tensions3

Trends to watch

  1. The automation push

    Several shippers and logistics service providers are investing heavily in automation, be it generative AI that eliminates manual processes or robots that improve efficiency. German startup Eceon is developing robots that reduce manual processes and help companies load and unload containers autonomously, while Nordic startup Hera Solutions is eliminating manual document management and unlocking savings for logistics operators. Despite rising pressures on companies to reduce costs, stakeholders in the industry believe investments in automation tools will help them save.

  2. Friend-shoring and localisation

    Geopolitical tensions have forced EU leaders to contemplate friend-shoring and localisation. ‘Friend-shoring’ is where governments rely on allies and like-minded countries for critical imports. Along with localisation efforts, it has emerged as a strategy to mitigate risk, given China continues to dominate certain segments of green technology supply chains and Russia's oil supply chains.

    Startups are expected to assist companies in diversifying their supply chains away from potential conflict zones, although there has been limited technological intervention in this area so far. This is becoming an important factor for governments across the bloc.

  3. Sustainability is key

    Freight transportation contributes to nearly 8% of global CO2 emissions, placing increasing pressure on companies to adopt sustainable practices. European startups are trying to solve this problem. Amsterdam-based Bringly, for instance, offers a shipping software solution to e-commerce businesses, which helps them optimise their shipping processes and reduce their CO2 footprint.

    According to a report by Holman Fenwick Willan, a law firm with expertise in shipping, and Panattoni, a real estate and warehouse developer, 62% of third-party logistics (3PL) providers gained new business due to strong ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practices, while 13% lost business for failing to meet ESG targets. Customer demand for sustainability is driving companies in the logistics sector to improve their practices.

Startups tracked by Sifted

Sifted take

Global supply chains have been under pressure lately and companies need to better prepare themselves to avoid disruptions. Startups seem to be helping shippers and service providers better plan their orders and manage their inventory, while also trying to help them be more sustainable. While funding has dipped over the last year, the willingness of companies to spend on tech tools to help them save more might translate into more funding in the sector in the next 12 to 18 months.

Rising stars

Colonia

Platforms & marketplaces

Total funding

€6m

Cologne, Germany
2021

Fleet renting platform backed by Atlantic Labs, Octopus Ventures, Plug and Play and Mobilityfund.

Round

Seed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Date

2023

Size

€6m

Aeler

Supply chain management

Total funding

€7.3m

Lausanne, Switzerland
2018

Swiss startup developing next-generation smart containers. It counts MaC Venture Capital, Virtual Network and Decisive Capital Management in its cap table.

Round

Seed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Date

2022

Size

€5.8m

Procuros

Procurement

Total funding

€9.2m

Hamburg, Germany
2021

Backed by Creandum and Point Nine, Procuros has built a B2B transactions platform to connect traders and help them exchange documents.

Round

Seed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Date

2022

Size

€8.2m

Cargofive

Freight forwarding

Total funding

€5m

Lisbon, Portugal
2018

Ocean freight forwarding platform offering e-pricing and sales automation software. It counts Indico Capital Partners, EIT Urban Mobility and Techstars in its cap table.

Round

Seed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Date

2024

Size

€2.5m

Early stage startups to watch

AELER

Lausanne, Switzerland
2018
 Seed

€7.3m

€7m

-

Airmee

Stockholms kommun, Sweden
2018
 Early VC

€26.3m

-

-

Alaiko

Munich, Germany
2020
 Series A

€27.3m

€27.3m

-

Aleet

Łódź, Poland
2018
 Seed

€1.4m

€1.1m

-

Allread

Badalona, Spain
2019
 Seed

€3.3m

€2.5m

-

BOX ID Systems GmbH

Garching bei München, Germany
2018
 Early VC

€5.5m

€3.5m

-

Bridge Logistica

Latina, Italy
2021
 Seed

€1.5m

€1.5m

-

Bringly

Amsterdam, Netherlands
2021
 Seed

€2m

€1.5m

-

Buddywise

Stockholms kommun, Sweden
2020
 Seed

€4.9m

€3.5m

-

Cargofive

Lisbon, Portugal
2018
 Seed

€5m

€2.5m

-

Cargoplot

Amsterdam, Netherlands
2020
 Seed

€430k

€1m

-

CARGORS

Amsterdam, Netherlands
2021
 Seed

€790k

€750k

-

ChainCargo

Eindhoven, Netherlands
2018
 Seed

€2.7m

€1.8m

-

CloudFret

Marseille, France
2020
 Seed

€3.5m

€1.9m

-

Coalescent Mobile Robotics

Odense, Denmark
2018
 Seed

€3.7m

€2m

-

Colonia

Cologne, Germany
2021
 Seed

€6m

€6m

-

Diginak

Istanbul, Türkiye
2021
 Seed

€2.3m

-

-

ECEON Robotics

Cologne, Germany
2022
 Pre-seed

€15m

€13m

-

Ekko

Witten, Germany
2021
 Seed

€2m

€2m

-

Enabl Technologies

Karlsruhe, Germany
2021
 Seed

€3.2m

€3.2m

-

ESG-NRG AS

Asker, Norway
2021
 Grant

€10k

€10k

-

Fernride

Munich, Germany
2019
 Series A

€63.4m

€17.8m

-

FlowFox

Hamburg, Germany
2019
 Seed

€1m

€1m

-

Flowlity

Paris, France
2018
 Early VC

€6m

€5m

-

Gelectric

Amsterdam, Netherlands
2022
 Angel

€220k

€200k

-

Harbor Lab

Chalandri, Greece
2020
 Series A

€20.8m

€14.7m

-

Helin Data

Rijswijk, Netherlands
2020
 Seed

€3m

€3m

-

Hera Solutions

Trondheim, Norway
2023
 Grant

€120k

€120k

-

Imperia

Valencia, Spain
2019
 Seed

€3.3m

€3m

-

Innosend

Netherlands
2020
 Early VC

€600k

€600k

-

Kaiko Systems

Berlin, Germany
2020
 Seed

€2m

€2m

-

Kardinal

Paris, France
2019
 Series A

€12m

€10m

-

Limbiq

Duisburg, Germany
2020
 Seed

€1.5m

€1m

-

Loadsure

London, United Kingdom
2018
 Early VC

€11.3m

€9.5m

-

Logistikbude GmbH

Dortmund, Germany
2021
 Seed

€2.4m

€2.2m

-

Logístiko EL

Málaga, Spain
2019
 Seed

€750k

€750k

-

Mily Technologies

Munich, Germany
2021
 Pre-seed

€1m

€1m

-

MyDello

Tallinn, Estonia
2021
 Seed

€1.3m

€1.3m

-

NODE Robotics

Stuttgart, Germany
2020
 Seed

-

-

-

OkCargo

Madrid, Spain
2022
 Seed

€2.5m

€2.5m

-

OmniMod

Oslo, Norway
2020
 Early VC

€1.6m

€1.6m

-

OMOFOX

Tbilisi, Georgia
2020
 Seed

€660k

€640k

-

Packaly

Amsterdam, Netherlands
2018
 Seed

€2.5m

€2.4m

-

Pixel Robotics

Munich, Germany
2020
 Early VC

-

-

-

Procuros

Hamburg, Germany
2021
 Seed

€9.2m

€8.2m

-

Rail-Flow

Frankfurt, Germany
2020
 Seed

€3.6m

€3.6m

-

responsibly

Copenhagen, Denmark
2021
 Seed

€4.1m

€2.1m

-

RideLogix

London, United Kingdom
2023
 Pre-seed

€71k

€71k

-

Robeff Teknoloji

Istanbul, Türkiye
2021
 Seed

-

-

-

S2data

Graz, Austria
2020
 Seed

€1.4m

€1.4m

-

Sealution

Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium
2020
 Seed

€1.4m

€800k

-

SeaRoutes

Marseille, France
2019
 Seed

€3.8m

€1.3m

-

Skrym

Stockholms kommun, Sweden
2020
 Seed

€1m

€1m

-

Solvo.ai Ltd.

London, United Kingdom
2021
 Seed

€4m

€4m

-

SP Tech Solutions

Toruń, Poland
2019
 Seed

€4m

€3m

-

Sparqle

Amsterdam, Netherlands
2021
 Seed

€1.4m

€1.2m

-

Speiz

Oslo, Norway
2020
 Seed

€2m

€1.3m

-

SupplyET

Hamburg, Germany
2022
 Grant

€170k

€50k

-

Swotzy

Riga, Latvia
2022
 Pre-seed

€590k

€500k

-

Tennders

Barcelona, Spain
2021
 Series A

€3.6m

€1.5m

-

THE CLIMATE CHOICE

Berlin, Germany
2020
 Seed

€2m

€2m

-

The Human Touch Robotics

Oslo, Norway
2022
 Seed

€1.2m

€800k

-

Toqua

Gent, Belgium
2020
 Pre-seed

€370k

€300k

-

Tractonomy Robotics

Ghent, Belgium
2019
 Grant

€810k

€60k

-

TradeLink

Munich, Germany
2020
 Series A

€15m

€12m

-

Unchained Robotics

Paderborn, Germany
2019
 Series A

€7.7m

€5.5m

-

VONZU Tech

Barcelona, Spain
2018
 Early VC

€1.7m

€1.5m

-

WAKU Robotics

Dresden, Germany
2020
 Seed

€2.4m

€1.5m

-

Warehousing1

Berlin, Germany
2018
 Seed

€11m

€10m

-

Zedify

Cambridge, United Kingdom
2018
 Early VC

€7.8m

€6m

€7.5m

Zeus

London, United Kingdom
2019
 Angel

€2.2m

€2.2m

-

Europe’s success stories

Who early stage startups are up against

Forto

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

Berlin based digital logistics technology provider which counts Northzone, Cherry Ventures, Softbank Capital and Maersk Growth among others in its captable.

Einride

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

Swedish startup providing freight mobility solutions based on electric and autonomous vehicles with Northzone, Temasek and EQT Ventures among others in its captable.

Sennder

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

Accel and Lakestar backed digital freight-forwarding company that connects large commercial shippers with small freight carriers.

Xeneta

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

Norway based Creandum backed ocean and air freight price benchmarking platform.

Sources

Data sources

Sifted | Proprietary Data

Dealroom | Data

News articles

1 2 3 From disruption to reinvention: The future of supply chains in Europe | May 2022 | Accenture

| November 2023 | McKinsey

Your feedback

How would you rate this briefing?

1
2
3
4
5

All Briefings