Digital supply chain provider Beacon raises $50M

Beacon, a U.K.-based digital supply chain and freight platform maker, revealed on October 4 that it has raised $50 million in a series B funding round, led by Northstar.vc.

Beacon’s software is designed to optimize digital supply chains with insights and visibility. The cloud-based platform offers a freight forwarding service across all modes integrated with its end-to-end visibility platform, connecting each stage of the supply chain to deliver a record of all the information teams need. The platform connects bookings to order management, live tracking, and document management.

Upper90 also participated as a new investor. Beacon said that the fresh capital will be used to grow its team, continue technology development, and expand into new markets.

Since completing its series A in early 2020, Beacon said it has experienced fast growth as a result of surging customer demand. Revenue has grown 12x in the last year, the company said, and headcount has increased from 24 to 180 — including expansion into Asia with a new office in Hong Kong.

Existing investors also participating in the series B round include Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chair of Amazon, and Marc Benioff, founder, chairman, and CEO of Salesforce, in addition to U.S. venture capital firms 8VC and Expa.

Digital supply chains growing in significance

The transformation of logistics and digital supply chains from servers to the cloud began before the onset of COVID-19, but the pandemic has accelerated this evolution. The continuing shift to online retail, combined with sky-high freight rates, and consumer demand for faster, more reliable delivery times, has placed extraordinary pressure on businesses and their supply chains. One of the most effective ways for businesses to compete in this new environment, Beacon said, is with full, digital visibility of their supply chains and logistics operations.

“We established Beacon to transform how businesses manage their digital supply chain and logistics operations,” Beacon cofounder and CEO Fraser Robinson, a former Uber executive, said in a media advisory. “Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into the spotlight the importance of resilient, reliable, and transparent global supply chains, which has only served to reinforce the need for our technology and service.”

“We have seen high levels of demand throughout the pandemic, and in the last year we have significantly grown our team, product, and geographical presence in order to meet this demand, while providing first-class customer service. These new funds will enable us to further accelerate growth by continuing to invest in our people and platform so that we can continue our mission to revolutionize the global supply chain.”