Freightos has announced its acquisition of freight-tender procurement platform Shipsta, a move the company says will expand its spot pricing, quoting, and booking capabilities by adding tender procurement.
In a press release Freightos expressed confidence that the acquisition will accelerate its growth, support its financial goal of achieving positive Adjusted EBITDA by the end of 2026 with available funds, and strengthen its market position in the global freight industry.
“The combined Freightos-Shipsta offering will provide the most comprehensive modern platform for selling and procuring freight services, connecting carriers, freight forwarders, and importers/exporters on one unified digital booking platform,” claims Freightos, in its press release.
Commenting on the deal, Zvi Schreiber, CEO of Freightos, said:
“The acquisition of Shipsta is a strategic milestone for Freightos, enabling us to advance our vision of digitizing the freight industry end-to-end. Shipsta’s platform, outstanding customer roster, and experienced team will add significant value to our offering by introducing tender management and contract procurement – a segment representing an estimated 50-70% of the total air and ocean freight market. The acquisition addresses the needs of our importers, exporters, forwarders and carriers that seek comprehensive solutions beyond spot freight bookings and sales and we think customers will love the joint offering. We’re also excited to welcome Shipsta’s outstanding talent into the Freightos team.”
Shipsta MD and founder Christian Wilhelm added:
“Joining forces with Freightos marks a thrilling new chapter for Shipsta. Shipsta and Freightos share a mission to bring global freight online. Now, our customers will continue to benefit from the outstanding Shipsta product and team, with service and efficiency further enhanced, while driving new efficiencies to the thousands of forwarders that leverage Freightos and WebCargo by Freightos. Together, we expect to accelerate market penetration, drive innovation, and set new industry standards in freight.”
This acquisition will see Shipsta’s product capabilities, customer base and team merge with the Freightos ecosystem, which Freightos believes will improve its offering and drive revenue growth with “immediate cross-sell opportunities”.
Freightos has also confirmed that Shipsta’s team, led by Christian Wilhelm and Stefan Maratzki, will continue to lead Shipsta’s product development, innovation, customer success, and go-to-market strategy.
Moreover, as part of the acquisition, Shipsta’s current team will join Freightos, and parts of Shipsta’s roadmap will be accelerated to “further enhance tender management, provide improved operational integrations and expand on market intelligence capabilities.”
Finally, Freightos states that the acquisition will be financed through a combination of cash and equity. The consideration includes a cash payment of approximately €4.5m from existing reserves and the issuance of approximately 640 thousand Freightos shares to a key Shipsta shareholder, subject to adjustment for working capital, and customary holdbacks.
“This investment reinforces the Company’s confidence in having adequate cash on hand to achieve positive cash flow. Shipsta is expected to contribute approximately $800 thousand to Freightos’ revenue during the last four months of 2024, with a moderate negative impact on Adjusted EBITDA. Revenue contribution in 2025 is expected to be between $4-5 million,” concluded Freightos’ press release.
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