Published on July 10th, 2019 | by Sunit Nandi

7 Successful Logistic Tech Startups You Should Be Aware of

In just 3 years from now, the logistics market size is expected to exceed $12 billion. The customers’ demands grow as well as competition in the niche becomes more intense. Every business owners try hard to improve the service and cater to the customers’ needs as much as possible in order to keep their companies afloat.

Here, IT and software improvements are helpful. Software solutions bring automation and simplicity to our lives; they change our lifestyle and embody the progress engine. And the best way to make sure IT plays a huge role in logistic industry development is getting acquainted with the most successful startups in this sphere.

With hands-on experience in software improvements for different industries, we have had a great opportunity to watch how small startups grow into enormous tech logistic companies. And if you are looking for some inspiration to break into the industry, or thinking over an efficient upgrade of your well-established logistic processes, you have come to the right place. We are going to share our observations with you and tell about 8 logistic startups you should be aware of in 2019.

7 Successful Startups That Contribute To Logistic Industry Improvement

Each of these companies has attracted huge investments; each of them now has millions of dollars in their funds. These are the real examples of how IT modifies transportation and logistics and besides, these are real proofs there is always a chance to grow your capital even with no previous experience in a particular field. So make yourself comfortable, and increase your awareness on how startups make money in logistic.

1. Convoy

Foundation year: 2015
Total funding: $265.5 million

Convoy pursues 2 key goals:

Shipment and delivery efficiency increase;
Taxing minimization.

In fact, this digital company answers the significant question: how to diminish the number of miles when a truck drives empty, with no freight? The Convoy’s enthusiasts developed a robust platform for ride-sharing. The platform enables interaction between customers and carriers, designs the best routes, optimizes the loads and satisfies the needs of both parties of cooperation.

2. Roadstar

Foundation year: 2017
Total funding: $140 million

Founded just a couple of years ago by the Chinese entrepreneurs, the startup has attracted huge investments and occupied a high position in the market. Roadstar.ai is a self-driving technology for smart cars. What is prominent about this company is that founders don’t plan to build a vehicle on their own. Instead, they construct special self-driving kits that can work on any vehicle. The price for this kit is quite affordable. Just invest $8,000 and get ready to experience the perks of self-driving technologies.

The company has ambitious plans. By 2020, they expect to blow up the autonomous vehicle market in the US and China.

3. Shipbob

Foundation year: 2014
Total funding: $62.5 million

Small eCommerce businesses know how hard it is to compete with the titans like Walmart or Amazon. The huge corporations have more customers, bigger funds, and along with that, they have more to offer. For example, customers prefer to order goods from a powerful Amazon as it offers lightning-fast shipping.

Shipbob changes the rules and provides small companies with the opportunity to deliver products fast. The platform is featured with automatic fulfillment and bulk shipping rates calculating. This is a chance for every small vendor to join the supersellers race.

4. Locus Robotics

Foundation year: 2014
Total funding: $59 million

If you dealt with warehouse processes, you have probably noticed its greatest issue: the routine tasks. A warehouse worker spends hours per day walking from one product to another. The employees walk dozens mile not just carrying the goods but moving from one spot to another which is the considerable waste of time.

The Locus Robotics solutions minimize meaningless efforts. Their robots deliver the products to the employees around the warehouse and optimize the entire process in such a way. It saves the employees’ time and allows focusing on more important non-routine actions.

5. Starship

Foundation year: 2014
Total funding: $42.2 million

More than 62,000 of miles in over 100 cities. This is what the Starship founders can be proud of. The company revolutionized the delivery in a local limited area. Now, when you order food at the great restaurant a few miles away from your house using the Starship app, it is taken to you by a…robot! The future is here, isn’t it?

The company deals with critical problems:

Fast delivery;
Avoiding traffic jams;
Human efforts minimization and thus, costs decrease;
Carbon footprint reduction etc.

6. TradeGecko

Foundation year: 2012
Total funding: $17.7 million

If the software solution for logistics is founded by former retailers, the chances it will cater to the sellers’ needs rise enormously. Talking about TradeGecko, this is exactly the case where 3 retail professionals decided to improve the industry they work in. And they succeed!

The key goal of this cloud-based solution is the complete automation of all the processes. It cooperates with dozens of well-known eCommerce and logistics companies to provide their users with a maximum level of comfort and simplicity.

7. Clear Metal

Foundation year: 2014
Total funding: $12 million

The company deals with several vital tasks:

Tracking the delivery;
Analyzing shipment details and efficiency;
Calculating the exact time of delivery;
Making the shipping containers as transparent as it is possible.

You may say, there is nothing new about 1-3 points. Many logistic agencies worldwide solve similar tasks. However, point #4 is revolutionizing.

There is a common problem that carriers don’t know exactly what they deliver. The shipping box is made of non-transparent material and no one can say for sure if it contains the things the customer claims it to contain. Making the containers transparent answers many questions and helps to avoid potential issues.

Final thoughts

Information technologies influence the logistic industry greatly. They help to simplify processes and automate routine tasks, they optimize resources and efforts and allow minimizing the damaging impact on the environment. And these technologies help us to build a future we want to live in.

Besides, a logistic startup may become a source of your stable income and the inception of the progressive business you would like to lead.

What do you think about all that? Do you have a prominent idea? Do you look for the ways to bring it to life? We can give you a hand with software engineering. Let’s make the first step to a multi-million startup together.

Tags: be aware of, logistic, startups, successful

About the Author

Sunit Nandi I'm the leader of Techno FAQ. Also an engineering college student with immense interest in science and technology. Other interests include literature, coin collecting, gardening and photography. Always wish to live life like there's no tomorrow.