Freightos expands reach by acquiring India-based e-booking company

Hong Kong-based software–as–a–service (SaaS) company Freightos has acquired Air Freight Bazaar India – an electronic freight booking service – in a move to expand the reach of its platform, WebCargo, into the Southeast Asian market. 

“Our initial focus in India will be on further automation for local airfreight forwarders and collaborating [with Bazaar] on dynamic pricing and e-booking with regional airlines,” said Zvi Schreiber, CEO of Freightos. 

This acquisition will add 300 regional forwarders to WebCargo’s existing pool of 1,400 freight forwarder clients, which includes big names, such as C.H. Robinson and CEVA Logistics, and gives both SaaS providers access to capacity on each other’s partnered airlines.  

Air Freight Bazaar co-founder, Jose George said that Bazaar’s vision “has always been to help India’s logistics providers improve with advanced technology” and believes that the acquisition will support that goal. 

Freigtos has conducted several studies and surveys indicating that cargo carriers have lagged behind in their digitalization efforts, compared to progress made in by the maritime industry. 

The company has been successful in garnering support and funding from various members of the logistics community to continue to expand its digital services, raising US$44.4 million with the help of investment company Singapore Exchange (SGX), back in September.