Key Takeaways:
– Seattle experiences the rise of another logistics startup, Freightmate.ai.
– The AI-based startup Freightmate, was unveiled on Thursday, established by ex-executives from Amazon and Flexport.
– The company secured a $650,000 pre-seed round financing from Wischoff Ventures.
– Freightmate’s end goal includes a thorough remodeling of the outdated tech scene in the $220 billion freight forwarding industry.
AI-Based Freightmate Joins Seattle’s Burgeoning Tech Scene
The growing list of logistics startups in and around Seattle area saw a new addition – Freightmate.ai, a groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) company that came out of stealth mode on Thursday. The startup is a creation of previous executives from Amazon and Flexport, and aims at assisting freight forwarding companies streamline their tasks and document management with AI.
Meet the Creators of Freightmate
The Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Freightmate, Bryan Lacaillade, previously served as a director of product management in Flexport, a logistics tech behemoth. He also had a stint at Amazon, working in its logistics business.
The team behind Freightmate also includes co-founders Yingwei (Jason) Zhao and Rishab Gadroo. Zhao’s experience involves working at both Amazon and Flexport in logistics-related roles. Meanwhile, Gadroo spent over a decade at Amazon, contributing in different engineering roles.
Financing and Goals
Freightmate recently made public its securing of a pre-seed round amounting to $650,000, led by Wischoff Ventures and New York-based investor Nichole Wischoff. According to Wischoff, the current state of the freight forwarding sector, worth a massive $220 billion, hasn’t evolved much since the 90s. Freightmate.ai envisions to alter this scenario by creating the next-gen AI-enabled freight management system. She further added that the company’s goal is to enable larger forwarders to save expenses on making and maintaining their own FMS, or having to use outdated technology without an ounce of automation.
While speaking to GeekWire, Lacaillade mentioned that the company has not yet generated revenue. “We just launched our first document automation service offering this week and are now looking for our first freight-forwarding customers,” he stated.
The Seattle Freight Tech Scene
Seattle’s logistics startup ecosystem boasts other names such as GoodShip, Manifold Freight, Flexe, Shipum, Pipe17, Outgo, and Logixboard. Previously, Convoy, a digital trucking marketplace, was the city’s most renowned logistics startup. Worth close to $4 billion, Convoy suffered a stunning collapse last year, leading to the sale of its assets to Flexport in the fall. However, some of Convoy’s ex-employees are now spearheading new logistics startups in Seattle and beyond.
In conclusion, the Seattle startup scene is expanding, especially in the logistics sector. Freightmate’s emergence envisions to disrupt the existing scenario with advanced, AI-enabled solutions. With a dynamic and experienced team of Amazon and Flexport alumni steering the helm, the company’s journey is certain to be an intriguing watch.
