Bolt president backs Estonian logistics platform MyDello

The global logistics industry is worth an estimated $6trn, yet much of it still operates through email chains, spreadsheets, and manual coordination. For decades, businesses shipping goods internationally have had to email back and forth with freight forwarders to arrange transport. 

When consumers can go online and book a flight across the world in mere minutes, it looks increasingly outdated that sending goods across the ocean should take days to plan.

Estonian logistics startup MyDello is betting that freight forwarding is due for a digital shift that makes arranging cargo shipping as easy as booking travel.

The company operates a B2B comparison marketplace that allows businesses to compare international shipping options across land, air, and sea by entering an origin, destination, and cargo details. Customers can also track shipments live through a dedicated portal, seeing their goods move in real time.

I asked Joel Timm, MyDello co-founder and CEO, if most customers are newer, more modern companies looking for tech solutions or if there’s a mix of more established companies used to the legacy options.

“Of course you have the early adopters, the ones who are always looking for new things, but there are also long term businesses who are very experienced in the industry and they are just looking around to make their supply chains more efficient because they are sick and tired of what is going on in the industry,” he says. 

“Because of course there are enthusiasts who are still going to travel agencies to book their next holiday from London to Singapore, but I think the majority of the travelers currently are going to some portals to book their tickets,” he adds, continuing the travel parallel. 

MyDello has now raised €3.1m to expand further into Europe, as it launches in the UK this week. The platform is currently active in 12 European countries as well as China. The round was led by Icelandic VC Frumtak Ventures, with participation from existing investor Finnish VC Superhero Capital, and adds to a €1.25m raise two years ago.

As part of the latest funding, Jevgeni Kabanov, president of Bolt — one of Estonia’s biggest startup success stories — joins MyDello’s board. Kabanov was an early angel investor in the company.

MyDello works with more than 12,000 SME clients across manufacturing, wholesale, and e-commerce. The platform connects those businesses with more than 400 carriers, including DHL, Lufthansa, Maersk, Qatar Airways, Finnair and Qatar Airways, enabling international shipping by all transport options through a single interface.

The company plans to use the new funding to fully automate the customer journey. While prices and shipping options are already automated using AI, MyDello aims to extend automation across the entire shipment process by the end of next year.

Despite the rise of digital freight startups, MyDello says its biggest competitors are still traditional logistics providers rather than digital freight forwarders, many of which specialise in a single mode of transport. That said, the sector has seen growing venture interest. Singapore-based GoComet raised a $7m Series A in 2022, while Freightos, which launched in 2016, raised at least $94.4m before going public in 2022.

Frumtak Ventures general partner Andri Heiðar Kristinsson said the firm’s own experience with logistics inefficiencies made the opportunity clear.

“Being from Iceland, an island in the North Atlantic, we at Frumtak know first-hand how important global logistics and freight forwarding is, while we also remain baffled by the outdated legacy technology and manual processes still dominant in this fragmented industry,” Kristinsson said in a statement. “MyDello is perfectly positioned to move the industry forward to the AI-age through its ambitious mission of fully automating shipment operations.”

With fresh capital, a UK launch, and a high-profile board addition from Bolt, MyDello is positioning itself as part of a broader push to bring freight forwarding into the digital age.

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