Leaner, greener trucking: Why we invested in Ofload🌱🚛

The trucking industry remains blighted by waste and inefficiency. Ofload’s platform is changing that.

When we are all responsible for something big, that’s usually a good thing, right? Well unfortunately, for those of us moving goods from A to B, that ‘something’ happens to be carbon emissions and a big problem for the environment.

The trucking sector now accounts for almost a quarter of all CO2 gases pumped out worldwide.

The trucking sector now accounts for almost a quarter of all CO2 gases pumped out worldwide. And while private vehicles account for a big chunk of that colossal footprint, it’s clear that logistics has a lot of ground to make up too.

That’s why we’re so excited to be investing in Ofload, a road freight platform headquartered in Australia 🐨

Launched in February, Ofload (originally known as LoadSmile) provides a platform that live-matches shippers with vetted small and medium-size carriers that can offer current capacity, and manages the entire process through technology. It matches shippers with carriers leveraging digital solutions, AI and ML to optimize and plan routes.

Our most recent investment Ofload is a road freight platform previously known as LoadSmile.

This proposition syncs perfectly with Maersk Growth’s goals. We’re looking for logistics startups that can go beyond digitization and get closer to automation, which will create a ripple effect throughout our sector.

Trucking is an area which is particularly lacking in digital innovation, and Ofload plugs directly into this particular need.

But more than that, Ofload addresses an even bigger problem: the inefficiency of the trucking industry. A lot of the time, the ‘long tail’ of smaller providers are overlooked for jobs, simply because no-one knows about them. They may offer the ideal capacity for a particular job, but they lose out through lack of recognition.

The consequences of this inequality are clear. For every four trucks that you see on an Aussie highway, one of them will be empty, and only around 50% are actually operating at full capacity. At the same time, trucks are usually sat idle for up to three days a week, and drivers have to fork out hefty fees to leave their vehicles in container parks.

For every four trucks that you see on an Aussie highway, one of them will be empty, and only around 50% are actually operating at full capacity.

Ofload is working to redress this imbalance by opening itself up to carriers of all sizes, major multinationals as well as local providers — in fact, it has already onboarded more than 800. When the platform receives a request from a shipper, it finds exactly the right size of carrier for the job.

The technology ensures that every inch of a carrier’s space is occupied, while utilising trucks that would otherwise have operated significantly below capacity. At the same time, Ofload can see where a truck is routed and send the driver another job in the area, reducing unnecessary mileage.

The company is certainly intent on making a major dent in the transport industry’s inefficiency problem. Founder Geoffroy Henry, who previously served as head of operations at HelloFresh, has written about sustainability in the Australian road freight sector and states that his ultimate goal is to achieve zero waste in trucking.

We hope that our investment, part of a total round worth $2 million, helps Geoffroy and his team achieve this objective. Ofload can not only tap into our own network of clients, but also use our funding to invest in its team and technology.

We completed the investment in August, in tandem with Global Founders Capital and Rocket Internet. Of course, conducting such an investment in the middle of Covid, via Zoom, was fairly challenging. But we feel this investment ticks all the boxes for us.

On one hand, we’ve invested with GFC and Rocket before, and we trust and respect them. Not only that, but we love Geoffroy’s honesty, speed of thought and passion for both his product and the wider market. The C-level team all have startup or consultancy backgrounds and represent a number of different nationalities, which we feel gives them an ideal springboard for success.

The financial ambitions are impressive, too. Ofload aims to generate a minimum of AU$10 million ($USD7.3 million, EUR6.1 million) in revenue for its first year of operations. Given that the platform has already amassed a total fleet of 15,000 trucks nationwide, this goal is certainly feasible.

If Ofload realises its potential, the total market opportunity is huge: by some estimates, it is worth over $11 billion. With only a small chunk of the total market share, Ofload can become a significant unicorn and a major player across the whole Asia-Pacific region.

Above all, though, Ofload is a disruptive company which is using technology to modernise an industry blighted by legacy systems. Our goal isn’t just to become a global integrator of container logistics; it’s also to catalyse a more sustainable future for our industry.

In Geoffroy and his team, we recognise kindred spirits.

Our goal isn’t just to become a global integrator of container logistics; it’s also to catalyse a more sustainable future for our industry🌱🚛

We’d love to get in touch with you.

At Maersk Growth, we are open for business to support founders that apply new business models and technologies to transform global transport and Supply Chains across all major and emergent modes.

Get in touch today 💌 dealflow@maersk.com