Loadsmart is a New York-based artificial intelligence company that helps freight companies automate truckload bookings using artificial intelligence. And Loadsmart recently announced that it has raised $21.6 million in Series A funding led by Maersk Growth. Connor Capital SB and Chromo Invest also participated in this round.
This brings Loadsmart’s total funding to $34.7 million, meaning that the company previously raised $13.1 million through seed investments and convertible notes. Loadsmart plans to use this round of funding to scale its operations teams and double down product and engineering.
“Our strategy has been to focus exclusively on product development and technology. Now we are ready to grow,” said Loadsmart CEO and co-founder Ricardo Salgado. “This round of investment will enable us to increase the business exponentially while maintaining high-service levels. It will also enable us to scale without losing the edge on innovation and technology.”
What does Loadsmart do? The company leverages artificial intelligence to automate truckload booking flow in the US. And the company provides instant prices to shippers with capacity guaranteed on all US lanes. Shippers are able to book a truck in seconds manually or it can be integrated via an API to have a server-to-server booking without human intervention through its automated platform.
“We are at our core a data company. With the highest ratio of engineers in the industry, we were the first to introduce truckload instant pricing and booking, and the market’s first server-to-server autonomous truckload booking via our API,” added Loadsmart co-founder and chief product officer. “This tech-first approach has allowed us to set in place a fully scalable and automated distribution model.”
Through Loadsmart, shippers are able to reduce spot exposure by 50% after integrating with the platform. And procurement executive time has been reduced by up to 90%. Plus carriers are able to keep their trucks full and reduce empty miles as Loadsmart’s machine learning algorithms match loads with available trucks.
Loadsmart also offers GPS guided cargo, which can be tracked on the web or mobile app. And notifications can be sent during the delivery process.
“We see huge potential with Loadsmart. Forward integrations between ocean shipping and over-the-road services can create incredible synergies and eventually provide a full service to shippers,” said Maersk Growth head Sune Stilling. Maersk Growth is known for developing and co-creating new business models for global trade and logistics companies at A.P. Moller–Maersk Group, which is a Danish business giant that is known as being the world’s largest container ship and supply vessel company.
