Norwegian tech startup Xeneta lands $80 million to provide visibility into ocean and air freight rates

The world is more global than ever. An estimated 80% of global goods are transported via ocean freight. On the other hand, air freight represents more than 35% of global trade by value, but less than 1% of trade by volume. In 2019, the global air freight market was valued at $270.2 billion. That number is projected to reach $376.8 billion by 2027.

However, the global pandemic of the last two years, geo-political uncertainty, and climate-related events have led to an unpredictable market where supply and demand continue to shift, leaving supply chain, logistics, and transportation professionals scrambling for visibility.

As organizations undergo efforts to navigate instabilities in the market, access to readily available and actionable freight rate data has emerged as a strategic priority. In this new context, ocean shipping and air cargo transportation costs have been elevated to company board-level discussions. These macro-events have made it pretty clear for companies that access to readily available and actionable freight rate data has emerged as a strategic priority. And that’s where today’s startup fits in.

Enter Xeneta, an Oslo, Norway-based tech startup that is transforming the shipping and logistics industry by providing instant visibility into the ocean and air freight rates via its benchmarking and market analytics platform.

Today, Xeneta announced it has raised $80 million in new funding to accelerate investments in platform development and continue scaling its global commercial teams. The round, which values the company at $265 million, was led by Apax Digital, the growth equity arm of Apax, a leading global private equity advisory firm, with participation from NY-based Lugard Road Capital.

Xeneta will also use the funding proceeds to support expansion into new markets as companies seek to develop resilient supply chains to counter global trade volatility.

Founded in 2012 by Patrik Berglund, Thomas Sorbo, and Vilhelm K. Vardoy, Xeneta provides a data-driven way to buy and sell freight. Its reporting and analytics platform provides liner-shipping and air cargo stakeholders the data they need to understand current and historical market behavior, reporting live on market average and low/high movements for both short- and long-term contracts.

Xeneta’s data comprises more than 300 million contracted container and air freight rates and covers more than 160,000 global trade routes. Xeneta is a privately held company with headquarters in Oslo, Norway, with regional offices in New Jersey, USA, Hamburg, Germany, and Copenhagen, Denmark.

Unlike other shipping rate and index solutions, Xeneta provides organizations with the world’s largest, neutral, and most accurate data source of real-time, on-demand ocean container and air freight rate market intelligence, whether for long-term contracts or spot trades.

The Xeneta platform delivers the one-two punch that modern companies look for in digitizing their overall freight procurement or selling operations by providing access to an unrivaled amount of rate data (with 10 million rates added a month), as well as incorporating advanced analytics and visualization. The all-in-one platform delivers further value by providing data and insights on capacity, reliability, blank sailings, detention and demurrage, dynamic load factor, emissions data, and more.

Xeneta’s novel crowdsourced approach levels the playing field for the ocean and air freight buyers and sellers offering benchmarking, tendering, budgeting, planning, and reporting capabilities. Amidst global supply chain and logistics challenges, Xeneta’s intelligence ensures that companies’ cargoes get to where it needs to be when it needs to be there, all at the right price.

“While global trade tries to get back on its feet after a couple of years of uncertainty, it’s clear that the overall logistics industry requires a re-think of how freight is bought and sold. This new funding will help us accelerate development of our platform and add even more datasets to enrich our expert industry analyzes to further drive transparency in the market,” said Xeneta CEO and Co-founder Patrik Berglund. “We are proud to have a renowned global fund like Apax Digital and its expert operational team to work alongside us as we enter our next stage of growth.”

Mark Beith, Partner at Apax Digital, who joins the company’s Board of Directors, said:

“Buyers and sellers of freight have been flying blind in a complex and opaque market. Xeneta’s world-leading dataset and cutting-edge platform provide unique access to granular real-time information and insight, enabling data-driven freight sales and purchases. This delivers compelling value for their blue-chip customer base – not just in sales or procurement, but also in budgeting and reporting, and increasingly in ESG monitoring. We’re thrilled to partner with Patrik and the Xeneta team and help deliver their vision.”

Xeneta’s customer portfolio includes amongst others: Electrolux, Unilever, Nestle, Zebra Technologies, Thyssenkrupp, Volvo, General Mills, Procter & Gamble, and John Deere.