Starboard: AI-native Logistics Solutions for Freight Forwarders
Our investment in Starboard
Today we’re excited to announce our partnership with Sumeet Trehan and the entire Starboard team as they build the next generation of logistics solutions for freight forwarders.
The Opportunity in Global Trade
Global trade is a $25 trillion industry that forms the foundation of the 21st century economy. It is also a classic example of a massive market that has remained stuck in the analog age. The operational backbone of this vast system—the 80k freight forwarders around the world—remains heavily manual and inefficient. The sad reality is the majority of the boats, planes, trucks and trains and what they carry is still handled by spreadsheets, faxes, PDFs and all-too-basic software solutions. This is particularly complex since a single shipment can involve 50+ tasks across multiple stakeholders, from customs brokers to truckers and carriers! Naturally freight forwarders, so critical to the global supply chain, constantly confront challenges that limit their ability to scale: wafer-thin profit margins (2-5%), high operating expenses (up to 80% of gross profit), and a lack of technological infrastructure to streamline workflows.
Starboard solves this problem.
Bringing AI to Freight Forwarding
Starboard is building an AI-native platform to empower freight forwarders and redefine global logistics. Their tools streamline operations for freight businesses and encompass essential capabilities: real-time shipment processing, document and quote generation, invoice reconciliation, and accounts receivables follow-up. In the hands of a small or medium-sized freight forwarder this feels like the best employee they’ve never had. Starboard has helped to cut operational costs by up to 50% across their early customers.
Starboard is a great example of the power of AI, doing things for customers that would not have been possible only a few short years ago. However, transforming an industry at scale will take a special combination of domain expertise and technological savvy to truly penetrate this market. That’s why we were thrilled to partner with Sumeet.
Sumeet has lived and breathed supply chain and logistics for the last 15 years across Maersk, RIVIGO, BCG, and most recently Flexport, where he served as GM for Canada. His understanding of the nuances of the market, the pain points across each constituent in the industry, and his bold vision for where the industry is heading over the next 10 years is the exact type of powerful combination we look for when we back founders.
We feel incredibly fortunate to have met Sumeet earlier this year, helped catalyze the formation of the company, and led his pre-seed round as the company got off the ground, investing together with our friends at Everywhere Ventures. Since then the team has made tremendous progress and we are now thrilled to welcome Eclipse Ventures - who just led a $4.5M seed round - to team Starboard!
If you are interested in leveraging AI to reimagine logistics and global trade with a scrappy team that moves fast, check out the jobs page here!
For more on Starboard check out the company’s press release, blog post, and visit their website at starboard.biz
Garuda Ventures is a B2B-focused pre-seed fund, leading a founder's initial round of financing as their first true believer. Subscribe below to get the latest from us, and visit garuda.vc to learn more.