Turvo, a two-year-old, Sunnyvale, Ca.-based company, is emerging today with an idea so ambitious that investors have provided it with $25 million in Series A funding to chase it.
Turvo connects people looking to have things shipped. However, Turvo is setting out to differentiate itself in a number of ways that may make it a compelling longer-term bet, however.
First, Turvo isn’t looking to tackle just one part of the supply chain but rather to work across its entirety. The idea is for shippers, brokers, and carriers alike to work together in real time. They use a software interface on their desktops and mobile phones which is simple and convenient to resist.
Indeed, its platform enables cross-company collaboration, real-time visibility, billing and payments.
Though launching publicly today, Turvo is already working with a small number of companies. It hopes to grow quickly, in part because of its transactional business model. Customers pay a fee per shipment rather than a monthly fee, making it easy for shippers to invite other users into the business in a frictionless way.
Of course, it’s also entering into a crowded, fractured, and, in some ways, intractable market. They compete with the SAPs and the Oracles and the traditional (transportation management software) companies. Logistics and ERP data is the last thing to the cloud.
Turvo’s Series A funding was led by the private equity firm Activant Capital, with participation from its earliest investor Felicis Ventures, as well as Upside Partnership, Slow Ventures and individual investors who include Nest Labs cofounder.
Source: Tech Crunch (29/03/2017)
