sennder to expand European footprint

European digital road freight forwarder  sennder, has raised an additional $ 80 million, through the second closing of its Series D funding round. The announcement follows the first close in January 2021 and brings the total size of the round to $ 240m.

New investor Baillie Gifford, which has invested in high-growth technology companies including Amazon, Tesla and Spotify, adds sennder to its European Growth Trust portfolio. To date, sennder has raised more than $ 350m; valued in excess of $ 1bn, sennder is Europe’s most valuable digital freight forwarder.

The new funds will accelerate sennder’s growth across Europe as the business strengthens its position in core markets and further expands into new regions. sennder will continue to take advantage of strategic growth opportunities, both organically and via acquisitions.

Since its founding in 2015, the business has grown exponentially; in 2020 sennder consolidated the market by acquiring digital freight forwarders Uber Freight Europe and Everoad. sennder also entered into a joint venture with the Italian postal service, Poste Italiane, making sennder Italia the largest domestic FTL (full truck load) freight forwarder.

The business is now targeting additional acquisitions of local road freight companies to enhance truck supply and increase network density on its sennOS platform. The announcement follows sennder’s recent acquisition of Dutch logistics player, Cars&Cargo, and strategic partnership with Zeitfracht.

David Nothacker, CEO and Co-Founder of sennder, said: “We are delighted to have carried our momentum from 2020 into 2021, having already made one acquisition and signed several strategic partnerships. We look to expand our European footprint, bringing more carriers and shippers onto the sennder platform, while expanding our digital offering – such as SaaS. Acquisitions and strategic partnerships are part of this strategy – the additional funds give us the flexibility to capitalize on the right opportunities. Baillie Gifford has backed a wave of revolutionary tech companies; their commitment to sennder is a vote of confidence in our team, technology, and business model.”

The sennder platform comprises 12,500 trucks servicing ten German DAX 30 and eleven Euro Stoxx 50 shippers – moving more than 1 million truckloads in 2021. sennder employs more than 840 employees across its eight international offices.

J.P. Morgan Securities PLC was the sole placement agent for sennder’s Series D funding raise.