Funding to Boost Brands with Logistics Engine

The logistics engine of Locad provides a cloud supply chain for brands to store, pack, ship, and track orders for ecommerce and omnichannel retail through a tech platform connecting a network of warehouses and shipping partners. Locad has announced it has raised an $11M Series A funding round to expand their supply chain platform that allows modern consumer brands in Asia-Pacific to automatically store, pack, ship and track their orders in a distributed, end-to-end supply chain as-a-service. The $11M Series A raised will be used towards network expansion, product development, and hiring talent across Asia-Pacific. The round was led by Reefknot Investments, a fund anchored by Temasek and logistics powerhouse Kuehne & Nagel.

Locad’s platform, dubbed the logistics engine, syncs inventory across sales channels such as Shopify, Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok Shop, and orchestrates end-to-end order fulfillment for B2C and B2B orders, from storage to delivery, through a network of warehouses and shipping partners. To date, Locad has served over 200 brands across Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Australia, and shipped more than 2 million orders while maintaining a 99% same-day order fulfillment rate.

“Ultimately, our goal is to enable a frictionless movement of physical goods and data across the supply chain for any brand and merchant, enabling anyone to sell anywhere, on any sales channel, and deliver seamlessly.” says Locad CEO and Co-founder Constantin Robertz, “As modern consumer brands are transforming to direct-to-consumer and omnichannel retail, we have seen that the supply chain and fulfillment infrastructure is a key barrier to scaling the business for many brands, and the bar is only rising further, due to higher customer expectations for fast delivery, and the complexity driven by an increasing number of sales channels.”

The series A funding round also saw participation from returning investors Sequoia India and Southeast Asia’s Surge, Febe Ventures, Antler, as well as new investors Access Ventures, JG Summit, and WTI.

“We are excited to partner with Locad to bring holistic end-to-end e-commerce logistics solutions to brands across Asia Pacific.” shares Ervin Lim, Vice President of Reefknot Investments, “Locad’s unique operating model of localizing warehouses into the cities ensures that inventory is kept close to the customers thereby enabling significant cost and time savings for both brand and consumer. We believe that Locad’s logistics engine will spur greater participation in the digital economy as consumers outside of Tier-1 cities can now receive their orders 2-3x faster at a fraction of the usual cost.”

Locad’s logistics engine provides the backbone to support the e-commerce and omnichannel growth of global consumer brands such as Havaianas, Reckitt Benckiser, and Emma Sleep in the region, while also expanding access to best-in-class logistics infrastructure to growing D2C brands and mid-market merchants.

“Success in omnichannel commerce for modern consumer brands requires a powerful supply chain orchestrated by software that seamlessly integrates the infrastructure of warehouses and shipping carriers. And that’s what we’re building here at Locad” added Constantin Robertz.

Committed to democratizing the back-end supply chain of e-commerce, Locad will use its $11M Series A funding towards building the region’s largest fulfillment network. The company is adding warehouses, partnering with transport operators, and hiring talent across the region to scale in Southeast Asia and Australia.

“Over the next 5 years, we expect to build the region’s largest network of warehouses, enabling next-day delivery in Tier 1 to 3 cities across the region, and make this available to brands and merchants in one integrated platform” concluded Constantin Robertz.

Locad is a logistics engine enabling e-commerce brands with a cloud supply chain to grow their omnichannel business and automatically store, pack, ship, and track orders across Asia-Pacific.

Locad’s tech platform syncs inventory across online channels and organizes end-to-end order fulfillment through their reliable network of warehouses and carriers across Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Australia, with more locations opening soon. Through this, brands and merchants get a geographically distributed warehousing infrastructure that allows them to stock goods closer to customers, enabling faster delivery at lower cost.

 

Colombian Logistics Service Provider Acquired

Leschaco (Lexzau, Scharbau GmbH & Co. KG) announces the acquisition of the activities of the Colombian logistics service provider Coltrans S.A.S. as of December 28, 2022. For more than 30 years, Coltrans has been part of the Leschaco Group’s agent network, so that a trusting and close business relationship already exists on many levels.

With the acquisition, the 500 employees will also move under the Leschaco umbrella. This was the second acquisition in 2022. In February, the Leschaco Group had already taken over Transantartic S.A.C. (TPL), a freight forwarding company based in Lima, Peru. In the Americas, Leschaco has been represented for decades by its own subsidiaries in the USA, Brazil, Mexico and Chile and continues to expand its network in a customer-oriented manner.

Colombia is one of the largest emerging markets in Latin America and offers great growth potential on all global transportation routes.
“We are very pleased to welcome our new Colombian colleagues and customers. The acquisition fits ideally into our already existing network and has a high strategic importance for us. It strengthens our business activities in one of the most attractive economies in Latin America. With this step, we are further expanding our presence in the Americas region, which is key for us, for the benefit of our customers,” says Constantin Conrad, Managing Partner of the Leschaco Group.

Grupo Empresarial Coltrans S.A.S. started its operations in 1988 and is today one of the leading local logistics companies in the Colombian market. The company provides global logistics services including import and export services in different transport modes, as well as customs clearance, warehousing and intermodal transportation. Headquartered in Bogotá, the company also operates offices in the logistics strongholds of Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Pereira, Buenaventura, Cartagena and Ipiales.

“The entry into the Colombian market and the acquisition of the Coltrans product portfolio are an excellent strategic addition to Leschaco’s existing global network. Our local and international customers will benefit from this,” says Martin Sack, Regional Head Americas.
With the new locations in Colombia, Leschaco is now represented in 24 countries. Services in the core business areas of sea and air freight, tank containers and contract logistics are offered at all locations. A variety of value-added services and multimodal transports round off the product portfolio.

The Leschaco Group is a traditional, owner-managed logistics service provider and offers intercontinental logistics solutions for sea and air freight as well as contract logistics and tank container operation. As proven partner for leading companies in plant construction and mechanical engineering, automotive, chemical and related industries, producers of consumer goods and pharmaceuticals. Leschaco offers comprehensive logistics solutions from one single source. Our globally standardised IT–environment guarantees the required high process transparency. The company was founded under the name of Lexzau, Scharbau by Wilhelm Lexzau and Julius Scharbau in Hamburg in 1879. Today, the group is represented in 24 countries worldwide. This network is supported by a carefully selected network of agents. The company insists on a sustainable business development and its headquarters are in Bremen.

Singapore Port Group’s Container Throughput

PSA International Pte Ltd (PSA) handled container throughput volumes of 90.9 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) at its port projects around the world for the year ending 31 December 2022. The Group’s volume decreased by 0.7% over 2021, with flagship PSA Singapore contributing 37.0 million TEUs (-0.7%) and PSA terminals outside Singapore handling 53.9 million TEUs (-0.7%).

Mr Tan Chong Meng, Group CEO of PSA, shared, “The world experienced another challenging year in 2022 and although most countries were emerging from the global pandemic, many continued to suffer from the negative aftershocks which were compounded by the war in Ukraine, higher energy prices, global inflation and supply chain disruptions.

“Despite the challenges, I was heartened by the ability of our management, staff and unions to adapt and to honour promises to our customers across PSA’s ports, cargo solutions, marine and digital businesses – they showed their grit, resilience and an abiding commitment to excellence. Just as importantly, I am deeply grateful for the continued support of our customers and partners as we worked closely together to keep cargo moving and trade flowing.

“Going into 2023, the world is experiencing deep transitions towards new realities and while these times of change can be uneasy, PSA stands steady against the headwinds that may come our way as we continue to build on our core business of ports and – coupled with the acquisition of BDP International last year – widen our focus in enabling more agile, resilient and sustainable supply chains. We will partner closely alongside our customers, partners and stakeholders to future-proof our journey ahead, and continue in our mission to be a supply chain orchestrator, realise an Internet of Logistics and bring about more sustainable global trade.”

Port group

PSA International (PSA) is a leading port group and trusted partner to cargo stakeholders. With flagship operations in Singapore and Antwerp, PSA’s global network encompasses 160 locations in 42 countries around the world. The Group’s portfolio comprises over 60 deepsea, rail and inland terminals, as well as affiliated businesses in supply chain management, logistics, marine and digital services. Drawing on the deep expertise and experience from a diverse global team, PSA actively collaborates with its customers and partners to deliver world-class port services alongside, develop innovative cargo solutions and co-create an Internet of Logistics.

New WMS solution growing up fast

Leading natural and organic baby product retailer, The Green Sheep Group, has reported immediate stock accuracy and productivity improvements since implementing the flexible cloud based SnapFulfil WMS.

The Stratford-upon-Avon based company, which was established in 2007 and recently won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, is additionally enjoying consistent control of inventory and outbound processes, which help deliver a first-class customer experience.

SnapFulfil also integrates seamlessly with Green Sheep’s existing Retail Operating System (ROS), Brightpearl, but has advanced functionality that will optimise their rapid expansion across an increasingly global retail support network, plus expanding D2C and B2B channels.
Green Sheep’s head of operations, Rob Galbraith, says: “We already have much better visibility and a vast improvement with shipping accuracy. Being able to separately track our Little Green Sheep and Snüz brand orders through the whole warehouse process is huge for us going forward.”

SnapFulfil’s ability to remotely implement their software – but while still delivering industry leading deployment speed – has also saved Green Sheep valuable time, money and resource.

Their agile approach means giving clients select parts of the system (e.g. goods in first) bit by bit, so they can practice and familiarise themselves in advance, undertake user acceptance testing, and not go into their digital training cold. Microsoft Teams demos can also be recorded and referred back to, in close up, for extra reassurance and guidance.

Rob Galbraith adds: “SnapFulfil met all our needs, they listened and improvised, while all the online training delivered was spot on, so that go-live was just what we expected. The remote agile medium definitely makes it more manageable for staff and is a lot more practical and cost effective for us as a business than the traditional on-site approach.

“The SnapFulfil system is also very user friendly and even someone with no warehousing experience can be up and running and picking with the RF guns within 30 minutes, which is really useful during peak periods with temporary staff.”

Green Sheep Group has also purchased a SnapData Creator license for real time data analysis and this live data interrogation facility will help maximise performance and cost savings, plus have a tangible impact on strategic direction. SnapFulfil’s multi-site capabilities is also playing a big part in Green Sheep’s expansion plans as the retailer is looking for additional DCs in Europe and the US to meet increasing demand and maximise growth.

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