Freight coordination software provider Cartage announced Thursday that it has closed a $3.3 million investment round led by Y Combinator, Garage Capital, Wayfinder Ventures, Northside Ventures, Pioneer Fund and Ritual Capital. The funding will be used to automate freight operations for both shippers and carriers.
Angel investors also participated in the round, including Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator; Nate Smith, founder of Lever; Kulveer Taggar, co-founder of Zeus; and Ian Logan and Caleb Gawne, former associates at TMS Rose Rocket.
Freight tendering remains a notoriously old-school process, with many brokers still relying on phone calls and email to coordinate shipments. Cartage is aiming to change that.
The team was founded by individuals with deep experience in the freight industry. Co-founder and COO Harman Sahota grew up in the trucking business, starting his freight brokering career at just 14. He later bootstrapped and expanded a logistics company called Westcore Logistics.
On the technology side, Cartage’s other co-founders, CEO Abdul Basharat and CTO Josh Lampen, were early product developers at freight software startup Rose Rocket, where they built collaboration features for brokers and carriers.
The company’s mission is to introduce modern technology to an industry that has been slow to adapt. Rather than trying to get shippers, brokers and carriers to change their preferred communication methods, Cartage is using AI to seamlessly integrate with existing workflows like email and phone calls.
“The industry does not need to change for technology; we think technology needs to change for the industry,” said Basharat. “People are not going to leave phone calls. They’re not going to leave emails. But what AI allows us to do is to replicate that, have it make phone calls, send emails and still have people in the loop to handle escalation.”
This approach seems to be resonating with customers. Cartage says it has been doubling in size month over month, working with a diverse set of clients, from small shippers to large enterprises.
“What struck me about Cartage is how the company is uniquely implementing technology without necessitating a change in how people work,” Chris Howard, founder and general partner at Ritual Capital, told FreightWaves in an email. “It’s a smart, practical application of AI. The founding team brings together real-world experience in both logistics and tech, making them the right team for the challenge. The team is on track to build something truly groundbreaking.”
The founders are also optimistic about the current freight market, seeing it as an opportunity to provide much-needed innovation. The company believes shippers are increasingly looking for more transparent and cost-effective logistics solutions, especially as the market shifts.
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By charging lower margins and passing on savings to both shippers and carriers, Cartage aims to disrupt the traditional brokerage model.
“I think traditional brokers often hammer down the carrier [on rates] as much as they can. That’s not our goal here. It’s to get good carriers working on our lanes and giving them a fair rate,” said Sahota.
Looking ahead, Cartage plans to use its new capital to continue growing the logistics business and developing its internal automation capabilities. The ultimate goal is to achieve a touchless load, where the majority of shipments can be handled automatically, with human coordinators only stepping in for exceptions and escalations.
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