Instafreight, the Berlin-based digital freight forwarder that has been in operation since 2016 with over 200 employees and thousands of weekly transports, filed for insolvency on December 13 in the District Court of Berlin-Charlottenburg. The company cites the departure of its investor as the primary reason for the bankruptcy. In response, Instafreight is actively seeking sponsors or potential buyers.
While the start-up will continue to exclusively manage transportation (4PL), it has temporarily halted its own forwarding business (3PL) in the spot market.
The move comes after a significant financing round in spring 2022, where Instafreight secured $40 million in funding from investors such as Heliad and the European Investment Bank (EIB), as well as previous backers Shell Ventures, 683 Capital, and Rocket Internet, who had collectively invested approximately EUR 35 million in the company.
With a total investment amounting to around EUR 75 million, Instafreight’s move to file insolvency stands out as one of the largest start-up failures of the year. Notably, the challenging market conditions have affected other digital forwarding companies, as evidenced by the closure of American giant Convoy in the fall, leading to employee layoffs. Convoy’s technology found a new home with Flexport, which acquired it to reinstate services for its American customers.
Update: the article has been updated with the following response from Instafreight:
InstaFreight has filed for insolvency on Wednesday the 14th of December, not bankruptcy as declared in your publication. We highly appreciate the differentiation between both processes, filing for insolvency or declaring bankruptcy, being kept in mind. I’m happy to forward our press release from last week to you, to underline the facts. Thank you so much and feel free to reach out to my email. Kind regards and best wishes for the holidays.