Introduction:
The Fr8Labs founders claim that while freight forwarders are well into digitizing their operations in Western markets, this isn’t the case in Southeast Asia. This is due to several factors, including a more dispersed logistics market dominated by SMBs and a lack of localized software. Fr8Labs aims to use its SaaS operating system to digitize the logistics sector in Asia and hopes to create an open ecosystem that many participants may access through APIs.
The Singapore- and Indonesia-based firm declared today that it has received seed funding totaling $1.5 million from angel investors, East Ventures, FEBE Ventures, Kaya Founders, Mulia Sky Capital, Seedstars, and Ventura. Fr8Labs is growing into other parts of Asia and presently serves over 50 customers in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Australia.
Glenn Lai, the CEO, and Felix Lu, the chief of product and technology, created the firm in 2022. Lai began working in logistics in 2015 at Sinar Gas Golden Agri Resources. He comes from a family of freight forwarders. After that, in 2019, he and Lu went to work for the Indonesian e-commerce logistics startup Bizzy as vice president of product and chief operating officer, respectively.
The two returned to Singapore when Bizzy was purchased by Warung Pintar, where Lai was employed as the chief of strategy and growth at the software startup Gravity Supply Chain. He worked with significant global supply chain and logistics organizations while traveling the globe. In contrast to Asian economies, he observed that supply networks in Western nations were digitally networked.
According to Lai, one factor contributing to the technological divide in the freight forwarding business in Asia is that, in contrast to Western nations where enterprise players predominate, the market in Asia is more fragmented. Big freight forwarders can influence other participants to digitize, particularly because they have systems that their partner companies can connect to via APIs.
Conversely, the majority of freight forwarders in Asia are small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), therefore they lack the same centralized power to drive change in industry standards. Another factor, according to Lai, is that digital logistics solutions are designed for particular markets and are incompatible with Asian accounting and customs regulations.
Because of this, a large number of freight forwarders in Asia, particularly in Southeast Asia, continue to operate using on-premise software or a mix of off-the-shelf accounting systems, Microsoft Excel, email, and chat. Lai claims that this hinders their ability to grow and leads to mistakes that may incur fines for freight forwarders related to customs or demurrage (which are costs associated with shipping containers that are not promptly picked up).
Fr8Labs is creating products to improve those networks, such as enabling freight forwarders to provide finance facilities, FX trading, and cargo insurance to their final clients (much like internet travel agents do for people).
Fr8Labs Aims to Digitize Asia’s Logistics Industry:
Fr8Labs Aims to Digitize Asia’s Logistics Industry [Source of Image: Techcrunch.com]
The operating system of the startup is its main product; it facilitates all aspects of the freight forwarder’s workflow, including quotation, booking confirmations, shipment confirmations, job accounting, and an accounting backend. The platform connects email and chat services and facilitates more effective departmental collaboration, particularly in sales and operations.
One use case is that a freight forwarder can upload a PDF of a shipping order and have the shipment booking and other documents—including forms that must be submitted to customs—created automatically, saving them the trouble of repeatedly entering data by hand.
The Warehouse Management System module of Fr8Labs is another example of how it may be utilized. It allows freight forwarders to interface directly with the backend ERP of their clients, allowing them to manage international shipments to and from the same warehouse.
A portion of the capital provided to Fr8Labs will be utilized for platform expansion, with ambitions to include financing, freight insurance, rates management, FX trading, and a marketplace. The business wants to transform its platform into an open ecosystem that can control and interface with other logistics technology applications.
Roderick Purwana, managing partner at East Ventures, stated in a statement: “While players in the industries are not immune to challenges in enhancing digital logistics, the application of technology is crucial in logistics because it can help to increase cost efficiency and productivity.”
The cutting-edge technological solution from Fr8Labs is here to solve the problems Southeast Asian freight forwarders confront. With the team’s experience, we are sure that Fr8Labs can revolutionize the logistics sector and provide value at every stage of the process.
