Australian freight platform start-up seeks 100 more staff in its second year
Sydney-based logistics platform Ofload reports that has closed its ‘Series A’ funding round in less than four weeks, raising $20 million in national and international private capital.
The company changed its name from Loadsmile in August 2020, following the gaining of $2.8 million in seed money in a raising that attracted container shipping behemoth Maersk’s venture capital arm, Maersk Growth, Global Founders Capital and Flash Ventures.
“The funding will support the digital freight forwarder and transport management start-up to expand operations and recruit more than 100 new people,” Ofload said of the new cash.
This new funding increases Ofload’s valuation to more than $100 million, it adds.
It comes after the start-up announced it raised $3.8 million of additional funding in August to accelerate its “push for road freight sustainability”.
It brings Ofload’s total investment to $27.5 million in under two years.
“We have now amassed an aggregated fleet of more than 1,600 carriers and 15,000+ trucks nationwide, and are working with more than 55 of the largest companies in Australia,” founder and CEO Geoffroy Henry said.
“In recent months, Freedom Foods has joined the likes of Marley Spoon, FedEx, Doehler, and A.P. Moller – Maersk, to leverage Ofload for their inland logistics operations in Australia.”
Despite the pandemic, investment appetite for Australian digital logistics solutions is solid, with WiseTech, on the software side, beacon of what can be achieved, though GetSwift’s regulatory travails show that the path can sometimes be bumpy.
Read how the company broke cover last year under its previous name, here
This latest raising followed a strong fourth-quarter performance, where Ofload said it had recorded a 550% year-on-year revenue increase. Since August, the start-up has made further moves to strengthen its presence locally with 15 new hires.
“The logistics industry has kept Australia moving throughout two years of lockdowns and disruptions to both local and international trade,” Henry said
“The Covid-19 pandemic forced shippers to find alternative and more nimble freight solutions to sustain the demand.
“As a result, we continue to experience rapid growth with carriers resonating in our approach, and plan for 300% growth YoY in 2022.
“To scale even faster, we’re looking to unlock the potential of home-grown talent with more than 100 new hires locally.”
“Focused on disrupting the industry for the better with tech-based products that tackle major inefficiencies, we’re also aiming to release our TMS SaaS offering within the first half of 2022.
“In addition to this, we’ve got our sights set on local M&A opportunities to continue our momentum in empowering the long tail of small to medium-sized carriers to compete against the larger players that dominate the market.”
Ofload and its backers are talking a particularly strong game.
King River Capital is new to Ofload’s capitalisation table.
“In the post-Covid global economy of surging online retail, where supply chains are seeing more demand than ever before, Ofload’s technology is optimising supply chains and driving efficiencies like no other technology in Australia,” it’s co-founder, Chris Barter, is quoted as saying.
“It’s proving to be a key competitive advantage for local and global supply chain operators.”