Amazon chief invests in UK digital forwarder

[caption id="attachment_82991" align="alignright" width="450"] Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc. Photo: Bloomberg[/caption] Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos was among the investors who took part in the Series A fundraising round for U.K. digital freight forwarder Beacon. The investment is likely to ignite further speculation as to Amazon’s eventual goals in the shipping and logistics industry. Beacon is focusing on its technology and finance offerings to disrupt the freight forwarding industry. In its statement on the funding round, the company said that it expects its AI, search, optimization, data, cloud and automation technologies to give it an edge over traditional freight forwarders: “Many of the logistics incumbents have been slow to digitize, and with fewer than 30% of shippers being satisfied with the customer service they receive, the industry is ripe for disruption.” Beacon is also highlighting its supply chain financing offering, which some competitors, including fellow digital forwarder Flexport, also offer. “Suppliers often demand payment before goods are shipped and, with months-long shipment times, importers need flexible finance to meet their working capital needs,” Beacon said in its statement. The forwarder said it offers financing to “qualifying customers” within 72 hours. Those customers are also entitled to shipping discounts. Members of Beacon’s management team have backgrounds in technology companies known for disrupting other industries; founders Fraser Robinson and Dmitri Izmailov were previously involved in management at Uber, for the EMEA region and Russia, respectively, while Chief Technology Officer Pierre Martin was head of engineering for Amazon Logistics. Beacon’s seed funding round included other Uber alumni, founders Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, as well as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. The more recent Series A funding round raised $15 million and included U.S. venture capital firm 8VC along with Amazon’s Bezos. Beacon said it will invest the Series A funds to pursue new hires and increase investments in technology and market expansion. London-based Beacon was launched in 2018.

Amazon chief invests in UK digital forwarder

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Amazon chief invests in UK digital forwarder

Qatar Airways and U.N. partner on refugee aid

UPS Mexico aims to help SMEs recover with new initiative

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