Freightos, a Barcelona-based global freight booking and payment platform, has announced the acquisition of Shipsta, a Luxembourg-based freight-tender procurement platform. The deal aims to enhance Freightos’ digital freight services by incorporating tender procurement capabilities, expanding its market reach, and accelerating growth. This strategic move underscores Freightos’ objective to achieve positive Adjusted EBITDA by the end of 2026 and to strengthen its position as a technology leader in the global freight industry.
Earlier reports indicate that Freightos has been steadily expanding its service offerings and market presence through various strategic acquisitions. This latest acquisition of Shipsta adds to Freightos’ growing portfolio of digital solutions designed to streamline the logistics industry. Shipsta’s focus on tender management and procurement complements Freightos’ existing capabilities, providing a broader range of services to its customers. Historical data also shows that Freightos has been focusing on enhancing supply chain efficiency and agility, which aligns with the goals of this acquisition.
Cash and Equity Deal
The acquisition is structured with €4.5 million in cash and approximately 640,000 Freightos shares issued to a key Shipsta shareholder. This investment is strategically designed to ensure that Freightos maintains sufficient cash flow while integrating Shipsta’s offerings. Shipsta is projected to add approximately $800,000 to Freightos’ revenue in the last four months of 2024 and generate $4 million to $5 million in revenue for 2025. The acquisition is expected to have a moderate negative impact on Adjusted EBITDA in the short term but is anticipated to provide significant long-term benefits.
“We are pleased to meaningfully enhance our offering on favourable deal terms. This acquisition provides us with immediate cross-selling opportunities for incremental growth while further aiding our path to positive Adjusted EBITDA by the end of 2026 without requiring additional capital,” said Ran Shalev, Freightos CFO.
Aim of the Acquisition
Freightos aims to address the growing need for supply chain efficiency and agility, particularly in the post-COVID-19 landscape and amidst crises like the Red Sea incident. By merging with Shipsta, Freightos plans to offer a unified digital booking solution that covers carriers, freight forwarders, and importers/exporters, thereby enhancing the procurement and selling of freight services. Shipsta, founded in 2015 by Christian Wilhelm and Stefan Maratzki, has been instrumental in streamlining tender management across various transport modes and has built a strong client base in industries such as retail, pharma, and automotive.
“The acquisition of Shipsta is a strategic milestone for Freightos, enabling us to advance our vision of digitising the freight industry end-to-end,” said Zvi Schreiber, CEO of Freightos.
The combined platform will integrate Shipsta’s products, customers, and team into the Freightos ecosystem, thereby enhancing the offerings and driving revenue growth through cross-selling opportunities. Shipsta’s leadership team, including co-founders Christian Wilhelm and Stefan Maratzki, will continue to lead its development, ensuring a smooth transition and further innovations in tender management and operational integrations.
“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,” Christian Wilhelm noted.
Freightos has established itself as a leading global freight booking platform, connecting various stakeholders in the freight industry through digital solutions for pricing, quoting, booking, and shipment management. The acquisition of Shipsta is expected to drive innovation, accelerate market penetration, and set new industry standards, making the combined entity a formidable force in the logistics and freight industry. This strategic move aims to benefit customers by offering comprehensive solutions beyond spot freight bookings and sales, thereby enhancing overall service efficiency and driving new efficiencies for thousands of forwarders using Freightos and WebCargo by Freightos.
