Investment Notes: Shipeezi

This week, we’re pleased to share the news of our investment in Shipeezi's $1 million pre-seed round. It’s a young business, led by an exceptionally capable founder—Carlos Ferri—who brings one-of-a-kind experience to the problem he aims to solve.

‍Shipeezi is a horizontal supply chain management tool for shippers, freight managers and carriers providing visibility and control from point of origin to point of destination. This is achieved by integrating with the disparate systems and stakeholders in the supply chain through a centralised platform, which serves as a control tower: one place to see and manage everything. The broader vision is to achieve what Carlos dubs the “holy grail” of logistics, offering predicative demand analysis to give directions to customers on when to buy and from where.

Though Shipeezi overachieved in a number of factors that comprise our complete due diligence, three in particular drew us to invest in the company.

When it comes to shipping, we’re feeling the pain

The disintermediation and fragmentation of the supply chain is a rampant issue for importers and exporters, especially at scale. Though recent months have brought this issue into mainstream headlines, it’s been bubbling for some time. Shippers often rely on a myriad of different suppliers and engage with various bodies including freight managers, carriers and the like, throughout the shipping process. This leads to a murky line of sight into where everything is at in aggregation.

Shipeezi aims to address this global industry pain point, starting with the shipper, by systematically integrating stakeholders within a centralized platform. In doing so, Shipeezi connects all the dots that shipments take, providing shippers with the visibility and control that they are so desperate for. This has become even more of a necessity in recent times due to global supply chain shortages, as detailed in the Shipeezi blog.

A belt with many notches

Shipeezi Founder and CEO Carlos Ferri embodies entrepreneurship. He’s shown immense grit and determination since migrating to Australia in 2009, arriving as a non-English speaker and with only two suitcases, to pursue his passion and to stand up several businesses. Our eyes are always peeled for a clear founder-solution fit, and with Carlos, it was more than evident. The past decade has been a testament to his ability to execute on his vision, and he has years of first-hand experience building a transport/logistics business from the ground up.

Carlos’ in-depth knowledge of industry pain points is highlighted through the caliber of Shipeezi’s existing customers, which include some of Australia’s largest retailers including Coles and Country Road, plus the global freight industry giant, Maersk.The high degree of passion Carlos exhibits was evident in our many discussions, as he recounted countless stories of customer delight when they discovered Shipeezi’s platform could remove friction in the management of their operations. Carlos’ courage and grit as an entrepreneur has been recognised more broadly as the winner of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2019 and named 6th out of 100 Youngest Entrepreneurs in Australia.

Industry heavyweights on the wings

Shipeezi is surrounded by high-caliber industry firepower with the involvement of supply chain executives Geoffrey Thomas (previously Chief Logistics Officer at Woolworths) and Peter Ramsay (co-founder of XAct Solutions), who have over four decades of industry experience between them. The involvement of well-regarded industry experts is crucial in “opening doors'' until the business gets to the point where the Company’s case studies in their own right will enable them to execute solo. This is particularly relevant in the logistics industry given the requisite level of trust required before a customer will break with their ingrained practices, to try something new.

Carlos explicitly highlighted his desire to bring people on board that have “skin in the game”. To us, this is a great indication of how to build your team.

These individuals are also pivotal in shaping the Company’s trajectory and focus. The pivot towards large retailers as the beachhead market, given the powerful signal onboarding 1-2 of these customers will provide to other stakeholders in the market, is an example of the strategic direction experienced advisors can provide.

We look forward to supporting Carlos and his superstar team as they continue positioning Shipeezi as one of Australia’s most ambitious young tech startups.