UK Digital Supply Chain and Freight Platform Beacon Raises $50 Million Series B Round

Highlights:

• $50 million raised in oversubscribed Series B fundraise

• Round led by new investor Northstar.vc

• Funds will accelerate growth by investing in people, technology and continued market expansion

• Round follows on from $15 million Series A, announced in June 2020, which was led by 8VC and Jeff Bezos

Beacon, the digital supply chain and freight platform, has raised over $50 million in its Series B round, led by Northstar.vc. Upper90 also participated as a new investor. The fresh capital will be used to grow the team, continue the development of Beacon’s technology and expand into new markets.

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Since completing its Series A in early 2020, Beacon has experienced hyper growth as a result of surging customer demand. Revenue has grown 12x in the last 12 months, while the team has increased from 24 to 180, including expansion into Asia with a new office in Hong Kong.

Existing investors also participated in the Series B round, including Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chair of Amazon, Marc Benioff, founder, chairman and CEO of Salesforce, as well as leading US venture capital firms 8VC and Expa.

The digital transformation of logistics, and supply chains more broadly, had begun before the onset of COVID-19, but the pandemic has accelerated this evolution. The continuing shift to online retail, combined with sky-high freight rates and consumer demand for faster, more reliable delivery times, has placed extraordinary pressure on businesses and their supply chains. One of the most effective ways for businesses to compete in this new environment is with full, digital visibility of their supply chains and logistics operations.

Beacon co-founder and CEO Fraser Robinson said: “We are extremely pleased with the progress to date, and this latest round of investment, from some of the leading names in business and technology, is an endorsement of our strategy and rapid growth.

We established Beacon to transform how businesses manage their supply chain and logistics operations. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into the spotlight the importance of resilient, reliable, and transparent global supply chains, which has only served to reinforce the need for our technology and service.

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We have seen high levels of demand throughout the pandemic, and in the last year we have significantly grown our team, product and geographical presence in order to meet this demand, while providing first-class customer service. These new funds will enable us to further accelerate growth by continuing to invest in our people and platform so that we can continue our mission to revolutionise the global supply chain.”

Amir Karimpour, Managing Partner at Northstar.vc, said: “At Northstar, we back technologies that have the potential to alter the trajectory of their respective industries, and Beacon’s game-changing platform has the potential to transform supply chains globally. We are excited to partner with Beacon’s world class team as they continue to expand and create value for their customers.”

Beacon is an integrated digital supply chain and freight platform, whose mission is to help businesses optimise their supply chains with end-to-end visibility, payments, and insights. The company offers a full range of services, including global ocean, air and road freight, customs clearance, insurance, reporting, data insights and supply chain finance, all accessed and managed in a single platform. From bookings to order management and live tracking, Beacon’s secure cloud-based software connects the key players and milestones in customers’ supply chains to provide a central combined view, and actionable insights. Beacon was founded in 2018 by CEO Fraser Robinson and COO Dmitri Izmailov, both former Uber executives.