iContainers, leading digital freight forwarder and marketplace for instant quotes and booking, today announced securing $6.7 million in growth capital funding. The round is led by European investor Serena Capital, with additional participation from existing investors Kibo Ventures and Vitamina K. This investment brings iContainers’s total funding to $9 million, and will be used to accelerate product development, increase global awareness of iContainers services, and expand its global footprint in North Europe, Asia and South America. As part of this investment, Anne-Valèrie Bach, partner at Serena Capital, takes a seat on iContainers Board of Directors.
iContainers is on a mission to make the process of shipping freight easier and more transparent. Since launching in 2007, iContainers has pioneered the next phase in worldwide logistics services by removing the complexities of coordinating with multiple parties, varying processes, lag time, and other points of friction that come with the traditional shipping experience.
“Despite being essential to businesses of every size and industry, the fact that the shipping industry is reliant on outdated modes like pen and paper means there is a critical need for change,” says Carlos Hernández, co-founder of iContainers. “We’ve created a platform that streamlines and brings transparency to the process, empowering businesses to manage their logistics needs from beginning to end. Demand has grown so quickly that we’ve doubled staff in 2015 alone and are expanding door to door in Europe and Asia as well as entering Central and South Americas. We’re thrilled about this support and eager to bring our solution to even more markets worldwide”
Its platform allows users to browse options for freight services, shipping rates, and scheduling times, with the world’s only online option for door-to-door pickup – so that businesses are able to save time and improve their bottom line. iContainers is also the only logistics platform available to provide a global and end-to-end trade coverage for ocean freight, inland trucking, and custom clearance services across more than 300 global ports in 1,200 destinations.
Not only does iContainers help small and medium-sized businesses find reliable logistics partners to manage imports and exports, it also gives freight forwarders an opportunity to increase their competitive advantage by expanding their product portfolio, improving rates for customers, and simplifying their operations processes.
“iContainers is sitting at the tipping point of major disruption for the freight industry worldwide, especially with its team of experts in both the freight forwarding market and digital technology at the helm,” said Anne-Valérie Bach, Partner of Serena Capital. “We’ve had our eye on the company and excited to help iContainers actualize its mission of making instant quotes and booking available for anybody.”
“We’re thrilled about the support in our mission to fix the supply chain industry,” said Jaime Jimenez, CEO of iContainers. “The world critically depends on how we’re moving freight from one country to another, and anything to make that process more efficient will have enormous benefits to global costs and overall market competitiveness. Our investors recognize this and the myriad value iContainers has, especially as demand for shipping swells with e-commerce adoption. We’re eager to continue delivering on our promise of helping businesses think less about shipping, and more about the bottom line.”
To date, iContainers has:
Helped nearly 5K customers ship goods across 500,000 trade routes to the 1,200 global destinations supported
Grown by 100% year-over-year
Doubled its number of staff to 40 employees distributed globally in 2015 alone – and is projected to double again by the end of in 2016
About iContainers
iContainers is a digital platform that’s fueling the next phase of freight services, on a mission to make the international trade industry more transparent and turnkey. Its platform allows users to browse options for freight services, shipping rates, and scheduling times, with the option for door-to-door pickup – so that businesses can save time and improve on their bottom line. iContainers serves more than 250,000 ocean trade routes to more than 1,200 destinations, or 300 ports in the US, Europe, Asia, Australia, Latin America, and Africa. Founded in 2007 by Iván Tintore and Carlos Hernández, iContainers is headquartered in Miami with offices in Spain and India. Learn more about iContainers at www.icontainers.com.
About Serena Capital
Founded in 2008 by Marc Fournier, Philippe Hayat and Xavier Lorphelin, Serena Capital is an investment structure recognized in France and Europe with more than 250 million euros under management. Highly active on the innovation and digital markets (Internet & Media, Mobile & Telecom, Software, Big Data, Electronics), the company invest up to 15 million euros in innovative, strong growth, companies (AramisAuto, Augure, Cheerz, LaFourchette, Melty Group, Prestashop, SanteVet, TextMaster, WorldStores etc.). www.serenacapital.com
