Six months after Series A, Berlin's cargo.one raises $42 million to sync freight forwarders and airlines

Just six months after its Series A, Berlin-based booking engine cargo.one has secured $42 million in Series B funding as demand for air cargo soars during the pandemic. It’s not just the surge in e-commerce orders that’s benefitting the business — it’s also the logistical nightmare of reduced and unpredictable flying itineraries. The low(er) supply has created a “capacity crunch”, according to the startup, and airlines and freight forwarders are turning to cargo.one to help them through it. Right now in Europe, the company is on track to process more than 110,000 shipments and 45,000 tonnes per year, with 15 airline partners including Lufthansa Cargo, Finnair Cargo, Etihad Cargo and All Nippon Airways Cargo. Led by Bessemer Venture Partners, and joined by existing investors Index Ventures, Creandum, Point Nine and Next47, the new investment will fuel the German company’s expansion in North America. In addition to that, cargo.one will continue developing tools that help with dynamic pricing, better route planning and demand prediction in volatile markets, as well as adding more products for booking through 2021. In July the company announced a $18.6 million round also led by Index Ventures, with the participation of Next47 and prior backers Creandum, Lufthansa Cargo and Point Nine Capital.

Photo: Founders Oliver Neumann, Moritz Claussen and Mike Rötgers