Logistics Startup FreightBro Raises Seed Round, Adds Global Technology Leader as Advisor

FreightBro, an Indian logistics technology company, has raised seed round of funding from Suresh Kumar, former Global CIO of Bank of New York Mellon. Mr. Kumar has also agreed to become an advisor to the firm and assist FreightBro as they continue to build cutting-edge technology solutions for the shipping industry. 

FreightBro, launched in Mumbai and Chennai in June 2017, aspires to disrupt the shipping and logistics industry by leveraging technology and digital innovation in areas such as AI, machine learning, and blockchain. The firm provides instant quotes, rate management solutions, and business intelligence to freight forwarders through its sophisticated and intuitive solution called FB Forward. FreightBro customers can also use their plug-and-play portal to instantly book shipments and access complete visibility of their cargo through an additional offering - FB Ship.

Key Highlight:

Company Name – FreightBro

Headquarter – Mumbai

Founder – Raghavendran Viswanathan

Funding Amount – Undisclosed

Funding Round – Seed (raised in May 2018)

Investor Name – Suresh Kumar, former Global CIO of Bank of New York Mellon

Recent Funding Updates in Logistics Space - Cogoport raised Series A from Accel Partners in April 2018, LoadShare received $5M in Series A led by Stellaris Venture Partners in April, Pando raised $2M seed funding led by Nexus Venture Partners in April, Rivigo raised $50M Series D funding led Warburg Pincus and SAIF Partners in January 2018, Mojro raised $650K Pre-series A funding in April led by 1Crowd & Lynk raised $3M from existing investor Ramco Group in April

“Suresh is a veteran of banking and financial services technologies. Over the past 30 years, he has led the financial services industry in innovations in online commerce, brokerage workstation platforms, outsourcing, big data, and most recently blockchain technology. His list of awards for the innovations and the quality of his firms’ work is impressive. It’s not hard to understand why he was inducted into CIO Magazine’s Hall of Fame in 2016. We are proud and excited to have him express confidence in our firm and its mission to revolutionize shipping logistics,” says Raghavendran Viswanathan, CEO and Founder of FreightBro.

Mr. Kumar will begin working with the company’s management immediately. “With this strategic alliance and investment, FreightBro is moving forward to expand aggressively across all major and minor port cities of India by the end of 2018. I’m looking forward to advising the firm in their efforts to scale up and deploy the best of the emerging technologies to the shipping industry,” he expressed enthusiastically.   

It is expected that Mr. Kumar’s experience in running a global technology group with over 10,000 employees will play an important role in FreightBro’s expansion throughout India and the world. The firm currently has established partnerships with top-tier shipping lines such as Maersk, CMA CGM, APL, Emirates, Safmarine, and ONE. FreightBro will work with numerous consolidators, air freight operators, transporters and customs agents as well to facilitate its expansion plans in 2018.

Mr. Viswanathan explains his hopes for the future, “The financial services industry has been dramatically improved over the past three decades through the creation and deployment of new technology to reduce costs, increase transparency, and develop innovative applications. With FreightBro’s addition of Suresh Kumar as an investor and advisor, we expect he can assist us in bringing similar types of advancements to the shipping logistics industry.”