Cloud-based procurement platform GoodShip announced Thursday it has closed on a $5 million seed round co-led by Ironspring Ventures and Chicago Ventures with participation from previous investors including Fuse VC, Cercano Management and project44’s Jett McCandless.
Including its previous seed round that closed in October, which involved several industry leaders including Stord founder Sean Henry, Convoy founder Dan Lewis and FreightWaves founder Craig Fuller, the company has raised $7.4 million to expedite the development of its procurement platform’s features.
“Industry leaders want solutions designed by and for industry leaders who understand the challenges unique to transportation procurement, especially when facing disruption and volatility. GoodShip’s team, partnerships and platform all reflect their deep roots in freight and, consequently, an even deeper understanding of what transportation procurement products enterprise supply chains need to create resilience and thrive in a post-pandemic world,” said Ty Findley, co-founder and general partner at Ironspring Ventures, of the company’s management, which pulls from veterans of Coyote Logistics, Convoy and Stord.
It was also announced that Findley will join the GoodShip board.
| Funding details | GoodShip |
|---|---|
| Funding amount | $5 million |
| Funding round | Seed round (second) |
| Lead investors | Ironspring Ventures and Chicago Ventures |
| Secondary investors | Fuse VC, Cercano Management and Jett McCandless |
| Business goals for the round | Accelerate bid feature development, artificial intelligence recommendation engine and go-to-market efforts |
| Total funding | $7.4 million |
Purely technology
While some procurement platforms offer their own acquired carrier networks, GoodShip co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Ryan Soskin told FreightWaves the company’s intention was not to facilitate those transactions but to provide data analytics and insight into shippers’ individual procurement ecosystems.
“There is no conflict of interest here. We are not doing any physical logistics, it’s purely technology,” explained Soskin. “Once shippers get up and running on GoodShip, they invite their carriers onto the platform. This creates a multiplayer experience where each party has access to modern analytics, creating a single source of truth.”
Project44 CEO McCandless said this single source of truth was one reason for his continued investment in GoodShip.
“Actionability — rather than brokering or executing freight — makes their platform neutral and unique. Unifying siloed sources of data, identifying areas of opportunity and providing the necessary tools to proactively optimize outcomes is a game changer for shippers, carriers and the broader freight ecosystem,” McCandless said.
Through GoodShip’s platform, carriers and shippers can see metrics including lane volume, loads to date, total revenue, tender acceptance rates, and pickup and delivery appointment on-time percentage.
To provide market transparency to shippers and carrier bidding as well, lane metrics include seasonality trends, volume by day of the week and pricing analytics that include an integration with FreightWaves SONAR.
Related: FreightWaves integrates with GoodShip’s freight analytics and procurement platform
“There are a lot of generic solutions that miss a lot of important components and do not account for industry context. You need to know what the seasonality is and how much lead time you will receive. We can expose that to carriers when they are bidding so they are no longer flying blind,” said Soskin.
Soskin and GoodShip’s team also aimed to provide a more seamless procurement experience for shippers by gamifying the process and providing pronounced suggestions for improvement.
“You can hide the healthy areas of your carrier network and hone in on where attention is needed. For example, green lanes mean that you are buying capacity competitively. Red lanes are opportunities to negotiate rates and try to meet the suggested cost savings,” he said.
After six months, customers have seen late deliveries improve by 20% and freight spend drop by 3% to 5%, according to the company.
“The platform allows us to combine detailed analytics, procurement events and carrier development into a single tool in a way we haven’t seen elsewhere in the market. In addition to the platform itself, the GoodShip team are true collaborative partners who understand the needs of shippers,” said Tim Worona, vice president of supply chain planning and logistics at Utz Brands Inc.
Watch now: F3 Goodship Rapid Fire Demo
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ThaGearJammer
If it’s such a great product providing massive value why the need for venture capitalists? The last thing anyone needs is another app or software program.
Anonymous
Someone have to get this situation better truckers gone start striking tik they feel appreciated both box truckers & tractor-trailers truckers & hotshot drivers. Do all the leg work but get the short end of them stick how is that even happening out here.
Log Nerd
How’d they make money? Trimble’s Engage Lane system does this for free for any shipper and carrier. Not sure the biz model here if they’re not a broker like Emerge is
...
“deliveries improve by 20% and freight spend drop by 3% to 5%, according to the company”
sure they have. rates are tanking right now and carriers have to up their service levels. Every shipper is seeing this even without a magic procurement platform. It’s called a down freight market