Xeneta, a price comparison service for sea freight, today announced that it has received €1.2m in institutional financing. The round was led by Stockholm based venture capital firm Creandum with Norwegian private investment company Alden co-investing.
“Right now we’re on an aggressive path towards covering the whole of Europe when it comes to trade lanes in-and out of the continent,” said Xeneta co-founder Thomas Sørbø. “We have our sights at global coverage, and the €1.2 million in funding allows us to further strengthen our team and continue broadening our international presence.”
Xeneta’s SaaS platform represents a new generation of open information links in shipping, allowing freight buyers and sellers to compare their rates both to the market average-and best-in-class rates. Since its inception last year, the company has managed to grow its coverage to over 125.000 data points per month on 1.100 port-port combinations to and from Europe.
“We are impressed by the force in Xeneta’s platform, illustrated by the value it brings to freight buyers and sellers. The proposition is in many ways similar to the way online price comparison and demand aggregation has transformed the travel industry,” said Fredrik Cassel, General Partner in Creandum. “It’s remarkable to see what the team has accomplished in a very short time: the amount of data Xeneta is collecting in an automated fashion and the growth in participants on the service”
Founded in 2012, Xeneta brings transparency to the shipping industry. Xeneta’s simple but powerful reporting tools allow freight buyers to compare their prices against the market average and best performing rates. Xeneta is a privately held company and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, founded by Patrik Berglund, Thomas Sørbø & Vilhelm Vardøy.
By Lolita A. Alford