- The global logistics market size was valued at $8.96 trillion in 2023 and is expected to be worth over $21 trillion by 2033.
- Despite significant industry value, the sourcing and management of carriers is often done manually, or outsourced to opaque, costly third parties.
- Loadar transforms how global shippers procure and manage transport with their trusted carrier partners by delivering advanced procurement capabilities, seamless process optimisation, and effortless integration with existing systems.
- Loadar projects a saving of 15% for users, due to overall process streamlining.
- The $4M Seed round was led by Frontline Ventures with participation from Techstart Ventures.
17.12.24. Belfast, Northern Ireland. Transformative freight procurement and management tool Loadar has raised a $4M Seed funding round, led by Frontline Ventures with follow-on participation from existing investor Techstart Ventures. Founder and CEO Ciaran Doherty will use the funds to grow the team headcount and expand to the US, building on the success to date in Europe.
The way shippers procure and manage freight carriers is outdated, inefficient and costly. A combination of outsourcing, antiquated in-house models and Transport Management Systems (TMS) not designed for super-large enterprises, have resulted in a transport procurement and management industry distinctly lacking in efficiency and failing to deliver what are now simply-integrated benefits of modern-day technology.
Loadar was designed to solve these problems, specifically for the super-large enterprise category. It offers advanced procurement and streamlined management, as well as the ability to automate the process and provide real-time insight into the whereabouts of freight at any given time. Further, it is simply integrated into most major enterprise systems. Loadar is already live and operating for clientele, including bluechip sustainable packaging providers.
Supply chain resilience has become a major challenge in recent times. World events like the COVID-19 pandemic, the Suez Canal crisis, the war in Ukraine, and even the incoming sanctions and tariffs expected to be put in place once Donald Trump is back in the Presidential office, all have significant knock-on effects on global supply chains. The ability of shippers and carriers alike to react quickly and effectively during these instances can be the difference between success and disaster. Recent studies suggest 89% of companies faced a supplier risk event between 2017-2022, Loadar helps to minimise the chances of disaster in these instances.
Founder and CEO Ciaran Doherty has significant experience in logistics and operations, having spent more than five years with Northern Irish public transport provider Translink, before serving as Vice President of Foodservice UK for packaging giant Huhtamaki.
“For the super-large enterprises moving product all over the globe, transport procurement and management is a major expense both financially and in terms of time. Teams are often individually managing hundreds of carrier relationships, it truly has become an impossible task to do well. Third-party logistic (3PL) companies are inefficient and fail at promoting crucial strategic partnerships between shippers and their carriers. It’s a challenge in need of a solution, and today’s funding announcement is the next major step for us to be able to provide that solution.“
Ciaran Doherty, CEO of Loader
Doherty estimates shipping logistics typically cost between 7-8% of a shipper company’s revenue, which is a major expense for super-sized enterprises making billions of dollars a year. Loadar projects users can reduce transport costs by 15%, by streamlining processes. Furthermore, by digitizing the entire workflow, real-time oversight of where freight is in the supply chain is made possible, making transport management significantly simpler.
“Managing transport costs and reducing carbon footprint are two of the top priorities for large manufacturers. Loadar is unique in that it tackles both of these topics together, achieving significant cost savings for clients by reducing empty leg journeys for transport companies. It’s a win, win-win scenario for manufacturers, transport carriers and the climate.”
Will Prendergast, Partner at Frontline Ventures
“Loadar is a wonderful example of innovation born out of Northern Ireland. Ciaran and his team have every necessary attribute to successfully scale what is a clearly needed solution to a problematic link in the supply chain.”
Jamie Andrews, Partner at Techstart Ventures
The money raised will go towards fueling Loadar’s expansion to the US, where the market size represents a huge opportunity for growth and uptake of the Loadar solution. It’ll also fund growing the team which is planned to more than double in size over the next 12 months.
For more information, please visit https://www.loadar.com/.
About Loadar
Loadar is a digital, dynamic automation service for the procurement and management of freight carriers. Designed specifically with super-sized enterprises in mind, Loadar users can expect to save up to 15% in costs associated with transport procurement and logistics, by streamlining processes across the board. Loadar was founded by Ciaran Doherty in 2022 and secured $4M in seed funding in late 2024.
About Frontline Ventures
Frontline Ventures is a venture capital firm that backs globally ambitious B2B software companies. Frontline Seed helps European-headquartered companies scale from Seed to Series A–and expand into the United States. Frontline Growth invests in U.S.-based software companies from Series B to Series D as they aim to expand into Europe. Portfolio companies include MosaicML, Navan (fka TripActions), Lattice, Vanta, Workvivo (acq. Zoom), Pointy (acq. Google), and Signal AI. For more information, visit https://frontline.vc/.
About Techstart Ventures
Techstart Ventures LLP is a venture capital fund manager operating in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland, Techstart provides support for early-stage technology businesses and university spin-outs through £50m of equity funds, and a £4.85m proof of concept grant fund. As part of its Access to Finance strategy, Invest NI is a Limited Partner in the Northern Ireland equity funds, funder of the proof of concept grant fund, and is part-funded by ERDF under the EU Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020.
