startups

Indonesian digital freight startup Kargo Technologies raises $7.6 million in seed funding – FreightWaves


Kargo Technologies, an Indonesia-based logistics startup, has raised $7.6 million in its seed round of funding, led by Sequoia Capital India. The investment round also saw Uber founder Travis Kalanick’s 10100 Fund join the funding round, along with Patrick Walujo, the co-founder of Northstar Group.

Kargo is a digital freight marketplace that plans to connect Indonesian shippers with carriers, reducing the friction and opacity that exists within that country’s freight market. With a population of over 260 million and a GDP growth rate of 5.1 percent in 2018, Indonesia is an emerging powerhouse in southeast Asia. Indonesia seeks to put its logistics industry in the spotlight as companies look to improve efficiency within the ecosystem.  

As is the case in several countries around the world, the growth of e-commerce has created a never-before strain in the Indonesian logistics sector. A 2018 McKinsey & Company report on Indonesia shed light on how e-commerce is powering the future of retail in the country, and thereby the possibilities it is creating – in terms of helping thousands of small and medium enterprises grow, work opportunities and eventually economic growth.

The country has around 30 million e-commerce patrons now, with the number growing approximately 12 percent every year. The potential of this development is endless, and so are the logistics complications if supply chain stakeholders are lethargic about their operational efficiency.

Kargo Technologies seeks to act on the promise the country holds by digitizing freight matching and eliminating the middlemen in the process. Tiger Fang, Kargo’s co-founder and CEO, was a general manager for Uber in western China, before he became one of Uber’s earliest employees in southeast Asia, helping launch the on-demand cab hailing company in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.





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