Qargo, a London-based next-gen transport management system (TMS) for road transport, has picked up $6 million in seed funding. The round was led by Fred Destin at Stride.VC (which backed Screenloop, Knowunity and more) alongside participation from noted executives Stephane Kurgan (ex-COO of King) and Breon Corcoran (CEO of WorldRemit, ex-CEO of Betfair).
Expansion plans ahead
Qargo will use the proceeds of this round to expand internationally and extend its sales and customer excellence organisation.
“Developing a next-generation road TMS is extremely complicated once you dive into the details. You have to be a little crazy to go after it, and you need exceptional engineering, product and design capabilities. It’s the kind of challenge we just had to go after,” said De Turck, Qargo co-founder and CTO.
“Trucks drive empty 1/3 of the time, which produces more emissions than all international flights combined,” reported Coppens, Qargo co-founder and CEO.
“To deliver value, you have to solve hard problems. At Stride, we are big fans of teams who go after overlooked and underserved markets and have done the hard work of understanding the unique needs of their customers deeply. The Qargo team has demonstrated this amply” said Fred Destin, founder of Stride.VC.
What challenge does it tackle?
Road transport is critical to European trade and it supports the entire continents’ consumption, construction and commercial activity, and drives the economy. Though it plays a critical role in the supply chains, it is yet to benefit from the advances in the ‘consumerisation of tech’, user-centred design, and AI-powered optimisation.
Having realised the transport companies’ pain points, Qargo uncovered the insights to build an all-in-one TMS. It streamlines administration with its user-friendly design and workflow automation, and slashes wasted trucking mileage through optimised planning and modernised communication.
Next-gen TMS for road transport
Qargo was founded in 2020 by serial entrepreneurs Adriaan Coppens and Joeri De Turck, the Flemish duo behind OTA Insight, a travel management company and Sander De Wilde. Based out of London, this startup is taking on the challenge of building a next-generation TMS for road freight. Qargo’s mission is the ability to deliver immediate environmental impact and emissions reductions by making road freight radically more efficient.
Qargo wants to translate the real needs of transport companies into one easy-to-use solution, streamlining customers’ workflow so they can focus on what really matters. By empowering transport companies to plan faster and better, this startup reduces empty loads, cuts emissions and lowers costs.
The Qargo team spent almost two years in deep R&D before releasing their first product in 2022 and are already live with a number of European transport companies.
