Digital freight brokerage startup Shipwell said this week it has raised $10 million in a round of funding led by Los Angeles-based investment firm Fifth Wall Ventures. Austin, TX-based Shipwell said it will use the funding for marketing, product development, hiring and employee resources as it continues to build its marketplace for domestic ground shipping services to shippers, brokers and carriers.
Fifth Wall principal Vik Chawla joins Shipwell's board of directors with this latest investment, which also includes venture capital firms Global Founders Capital and Aspect Ventures. When added with funding from existing investors First Round Capital, Base10 and Village Global, the new round brings Shipwell's total funding to $12.1 million, the company said.
The funding is yet another example of the growing interest among venture capitalists in logistics technology startups targeting the freight matching and load brokering sector. Other examples include Loadsmart, Convoy, Transfix and Cargomatic.
Shipwell is a digitized brokerage platform focused on small- and medium-sized businesses—those that spend $100 million or less a year on freight, the company said. The company says its goal is to help any business do freight shipping the way Amazon can, by automating and simplifying the freight matching and management process.
