Rotterdam, August 9th 2021 – Shypple, the Rotterdam-based digital freight forwarding platform, today announces that it has acquired Milestone, a leader in perishable logistics, becoming the first digital freight forwarder in the market for air and ocean freight perishables. By joining forces with Milestone, Shypple adds capabilities to the platform, accelerates its revenue and network growth and increases its global presence, adding offices in Asia, Central America and Europe. In addition, the technology-driven platform has announced raising €25.5 million so far this year to accelerate growth and innovation in the freight forwarding industry.
Shypple accelerates revenue and network growth with Milestone acquisition
By integrating Milestone’s capabilities into the platform, Shypple becomes the first digital forwarder for perishables, simultaneously expanding its presence in Asia, with seven offices in China, and locations throughout Europe and Central America. The revenue is expected to reach €250 million by 2022.
Milestone’s knowledge and network adds strong new capabilities in air freight and perishable transport. At the same time, Milestone customers migrating to the Shypple platform benefit from the digital freight forwarding capabilities that will future-proof their businesses, while maintaining with existing trusted relationships.
€25.5 million to revolutionize the freight forwarding industry
The recently closed “Series A2” funding of €18.5 million follows the earlier Series A funding announced in
April 2021, when €7 million was raised. The investors involved in the initial Series A round, included Dutch
Founders Fund, Newtown Partners (via the Imperial Venture Fund), InnovationQuarter and BOM Brabant Ventures, also participated in the latest round, to increase their stakes in Shypple. The Milestone executives also participated in the new funding with a multi-million-euro investment, showing their confidence in the future with Shypple.
“With Milestone we have strengthened our capabilities in the perishables and air freight forwarding markets to a globally competitive position,” said Jarell Habets, founder and CEO of Shypple. “We’re now able to serve the needs of large perishable goods shippers in Europe, Latin America and the Asian trade lanes, who are looking for a digital freight forwarding solution. This is our way of continuing to innovate in the traditional world of the freight industry.”
“We are accelerating the digitalization of our services by combining our knowledge of perishable transport with the digital capabilities of Shypple,” said Co van Es and Juri Falandt, Founders & CEOs of Milestone. “As a result, our customers immediately benefit from the visibility, consistency and reliability that enables them to confidently optimize their global trading operations. This is hugely important in an intercontinental market where efficiency and access to the latest freight information is essential.”
Revolutionizing the way the world trades
Over 90% of global trade is transported by sea and about 90% of this freight forwarding business is fragmented and heavily dependent on Excel spreadsheets, emails, telephone calls and other error-prone modes to communicate and manage trade. Along with each vessel, a crate of paperwork is flown to the destination port, demonstrating that this $350 billion market is desperately longing for innovation, which Shypple is providing through its technology-driven platform.
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About Shypple
Shypple is a digital freight forwarding service operating since 2016, now connecting more than 3,000 companies. The technology-driven Shypple platform provides organizations with end-to-end transparency and control over their entire supply chain. Increasing efficiency, minimizing errors and optimizing global trade. Shypple is headquartered in Europe’s largest port, Rotterdam and near Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The company also has offices in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai. For more information, visit www.shypple.com.
About Milestone
Milestone, founded in 2004, is an independent global freight forwarder, specializing in the field of transporting
perishables. The organization has a worldwide network of partners and a client base of more than 450 customers. The
Milestone organization has over 100 employees and offices at Schiphol Airport and Capelle a/d IJssel in the Netherlands, as well as in Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Thailand and Hong Kong. Their objectives are to be involved, innovative, flexible, proactive, reliable and to go the extra mile for their customers and relations. For more information, visit www.milestonelogistics.nl.