PayCargo recently announced a US$35 million injection led by venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners, based in New York.
The online payments company said it will use the capital to expand its electronic payments network and explore investments in technology.
As COVID-19 accelerates the adoption of online payments in the cargo market, the investment from Insight Partners comes at a time where vendors and payers are moving away from legacy, paper-based processes.
PayCargo’s cloud-based solution has established an industry contactless payment ecosystem that enables payers to quickly and securely pay air and ocean carriers, maritime ports, ground handlers, freight forwarders, and customs brokers, amongst others.
This allows for faster cargo release, elimination of manual processes and fees, improved transparency, cash flow management, as well as streamlined invoicing and account reconciliation.
“As the cargo industry rapidly shifts to electronic payments, PayCargo has established itself as the market leading platform for doing business by successfully automating the payments process and ensuring efficiency for both payers and vendors,” said Ryan Hinkle, managing director at Insight Partners, who will join PayCargo’s board of directors.
The investment comes as PayCargo is experiencing rapid growth across the global freight ecosystem.
Claiming profitability since its inception, PayCargo recorded over 80 percent growth in transaction volume over the past year. The company helped process over US$2 billion in 2019 and now on track to process $4 billion in payments this year.
3PL customers like Kuehne + Nagel, DHL, DB Schenker, BDP, Seko Logistics, UPS, YUSEN Logistics and carriers such as Hapag-Lloyd, MSC, Ocean Network Express, Alliance Ground, Swissport, and AirFrance have launched and expanded usage of the platform.
The company’s API integrations across the cargo-tech ecosystem and its industry partnerships with IATA, Cargo Network Services (CNS), CHAMP Cargosystems, IBS, Accelya, Unisys and Kale Logistics have certainly propelled the payments partner forward in the industry.
“This investment will allow us to expand our network of customers and continue to make PayCargo the best place to transact electronically,” said Eduardo Del Riego, global chief executive officer of PayCargo. “We are excited to continue supporting our customers and building new tools to achieve our mission of improving the speed and profitability of our freight customers’ businesses.”