Berlin-based startup sennder raises $70 million in Series C to drive change in logistics

Following a previously undisclosed $30 million Series B led by Accel earlier this year, sennder announced today closing a $70 million Series C funding round, led by Lakestar. This brings the funding raised by the startup, which aims at solving pain points in the full truck load (FTL) market, to a total of $100 million in 2019. 

Estimated at $400 billion European road freight industry is still outdated and extremely fragmented, relying on multiple layers of subcontracting. That leaves room for improvement in pricing, capacity utilisation and service — and that’s where sennder comes in. Launched in 2016 by entrepreneurs David Nothacker, Nicolaus Schefenacker and Julius Koehler, the company has claimed to position itself at the forefront of the road freight logistics market, serving enterprise clients across the EU. It now operates in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Benelux. 

Startup’s co-founder David Nothacker believes that “sennder is leading the way for the industry on digitisation, reliability and customer service,” by connecting large commercial shippers with small freight carriers via its tech platform. sennder digitalises the truckload-shipping ecosystem by providing mobile apps to drivers, fleet management tools to carrier managers, and logistics management solutions to shippers. By integrating directly with the shippers’ transport management and freight management systems via APIs and by cutting the multiple middle men, sennder claims to increase efficiency and reduce cost for all stakeholders. 

The capital raised from Lakestar, Accel, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, Project A, Next47, H14 and Scania Growth Capital will be used to accelerate sennder’s growth in the road freight logistics market across continental Europe. The funding will also allow the company to further develop technology of its digital freight forwarding platform.