Freightos Limited, a leading global freight booking and payment platform has announced the closing of its business combination with Gesher I Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company. The combined company will operate as Freightos Limited. Ordinary shares and warrants of Freightos will commence trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbols “CRGO” and “CRGOW”, respectively.
Freightos connects key participants across the global freight ecosystem, including hundreds of airlines, ocean liners, and trucking companies, thousands of freight forwarders and over 10 thousand importers/exporters, through a transparent digital platform that allows real-time global freight rate comparison, booking, payment, and shipment management. During 2022, the Company facilitated nearly 700 thousand digital booking transactions, representing over $600 million in Gross Booking Value (“GBV”). This represents 54% growth in transactions compared to 2021.
The capital raised from the business combination will be invested in further scaling the business, to increase transaction growth and revenue and to further develop the technology stack, to drive additional value for customers, and improve margins.
Read more: Freightos to raise growth capital and become public
Freightos was inspired by the successful digital revolutions in passenger travel, retail, financial services, and other industries, and is aiming to bring similar efficiency and transparency to the massive but largely offline international freight industry.
“Supply chains are fragile, and the last two years demonstrated how valuable Freightos is and can be,” Zvi Schreiber, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Freightos, said. “The Company had an outstanding 2022, despite declining freight rates and volumes, demonstrating the power of digitalising one of the last large offline industries. We are delighted to have constructive partnerships with an increasing number of carriers, freight forwarders and importers/exporters who are committed to digitalisation.”
“Going public through the combination with Gesher and raising capital is designed to fuel our aggressive efforts to scale our booking and payment platform and enhance our leadership position,” said Schreiber. “This day represents new opportunities for the Freightos team around the world, whose diligence and dedication have made Freightos what it is today.”
Read more: Freightos goes live with digital payment to forwarders and airlines on WebCargo platform
“Freightos’ platform has set new transaction records in every quarter since we announced our business combination, which demonstrates the Company’s immense potential and traction,” Ezra Gardner, Gesher’s Chief Executive Officer, added. “The Company is the only pure-play global freight platform with publicly-traded securities, enjoying positive unit economics, high gross margins, a strong growth trajectory, impressive customer retention, and a vast total addressable market. Freightos is focused on delivering strong shareholder returns; Zvi and his team have worked hard to grow the business, resulting in 2022 and Q4 transaction numbers that beat internal targets despite negative market trends.”
Freightos raised over $80 million in capital through the transaction, exceeding the previously announced committed capital. This includes $10 million from Qatar Airways, the world’s largest air cargo carrier and $60 million from M&G Investments and The Prudential Assurance Company Limited. Existing shareholders in Freightos include SGX Group (the Singapore Exchange Limited), a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, Qatar Airways, IAG Cargo, the cargo division of International Airlines Group (which includes British Airways and Iberia), LATAM Airlines Group, Bob Mylod (Chairman of Booking Holdings) and leading financial investors such as Aleph and MoreVC. Freightos management, along with its largest shareholders, have signed 2-year lockup agreements, subject to periodic releases and certain exceptions. We believe this demonstrates confidence in Freightos’ long-term value.
“Modernising global freight is a large unmet need of the global economy. Freightos, with its superior marketplace technology, is winning rapid commercial adoption” Carl Vine, Portfolio Manager at M&G, stated. “The recent growth trajectory suggests that the Company is well on its way to cementing its dominant position in this opportunity-rich area. We’re confident that Freightos is on the path to realizing its immense potential.”
