It is highly unusual for an early-stage start-up to count both Jeff Bezos and Marc Benioff as backers
(Picture: AP)A London-based logistics start-up backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has raised £37 million to fuel expansion as global supply chains falter.
Beacon launched in 2018 and uses AI and cloud-based technology to help companies make their international supply chains more efficient.
It counted Bezos among participants in the Series B funding round, led by established investor Northstar.vc. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff also joined the raise, which follows a $15 million Series A in early 2020.
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on global supply chains. Soaring shipping and trucking costs, alongside sharp rises in raw materials costs, have hit margins at firms large and small around the world in recent months.
Beacon, launched by former Uber executives Fraser Robinson and Dmitri Izmailov, has seen "hyper growth" in the past year as demand for its platform surges amid the ongoing disruption.
Revenues have grown 12x in the last 12 months, and the team has grown from 24 to 180.
The start-up said on Monday that the new capital will be used to grow its team further, continue the development of its technology and expand into new markets.
Its platform allows companies to sort out sea and air freight, customs paperwork and other essentials such as insurance for cargo online on a single platform.
Robinson, Beacon’s CEO, said: “This latest round of investment, from some of the leading names in business and technology, is an endorsement of our strategy and rapid growth.
"We established Beacon to transform how businesses manage their supply chain and logistics operations. 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."
Amir Karimpour, Managing Partner at Northstar.vc, said: “Beacon’s game-changing platform has the potential to transform supply chains globally.”
