uShip secures $25m “to fund next wave of logistics automation”
uShip, the online shipping marketplace and freight automation software provider, has closed a $25m Series D round led by DB Schenker. uShip has now raised $50M to date, with previous rounds led by Benchmark Capital (2005, 2007), DAG Ventures (2007), and Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (2013).
DB Schenker has already built up a working relationship with uShip. Last July, DB Schenker and uShip announced a five-year agreement to create the ‘Drive4Schenker’ online trucking platform. Earlier this month, ‘Drive4Schenker’ launched in Germany and will continue to roll out across Europe, optimizing management of 5,000 loads per day with 30,000 DB Schenker transport providers.
“Expanding our successful partnership will expedite and streamline transport management and help us, as a market leader in European land transport, to handle even larger volumes of freight,” said Jochen Thewes, CEO of Schenker AG.
“We also intend to quickly develop and tap new opportunities to grow outside of our traditional business models. This is our largest equity interest in a digital company to date and it shows how serious we are about innovation at DB Schenker. We’re investing in shaping the future of digital logistics.”
In a statement issued yesterday (15 February), uShip said that it plans to use the investment to “accelerate development of its logistics software platform for key business segments, including high-volume enterprise shippers and small and midsize businesses (SMB) shipping less-than-truckload (LTL) freight”.
“The industry continues to see unprecedented investment in logistics technology that’s driving innovation and disruption never seen before, making transport faster, easier, more efficient, and ultimately more profitable,” said Jim Martell, executive chairman of the board at uShip.
