Digital freight forwarder Zencargo raises US$4 million

London-based digital freight forwarder Zencargo today announced the completion of its “seed plus” round of funding, led by LocalGlobe, with participation from Samos Investments and Picus Capital, bringing total funds raised to more than US$4 million for the startup.

Zencargo said the money will go toward accelerating its product development process and expand its presence beyond it origins in the U.K. and Switzerland, and into China, to “bridge the communication gap between shippers and thousands of local manufacturers.”

The company offers services such as instant quotes, instant booking and real-time shipment tracking through a centralized platform, which “pulls supply-chain data from different systems and parties and displays it together in one place.”

Tom Hook, supply chain and operations manager at tech company Catapult, a client of Zencargo, said that digitalizing its processes has improved operations by “helping to increase visibility into our supply chain, minimizing the amount of admin and communication required, and allowing us to focus on developing and improving the way we operate, rather than continually chasing it.”

There are a few front-runners gunning for status as leaders in the digitalization of the logistics industry. A similar startup, blockchain-based tech company CargoX, was in the news today for contracting the business of Freightalia.

As the push to digitalize traditionally paper-based forwarder transactions continues, it should be interesting to witness which of these ambitious startups will win the logistics sector’s favor.