RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Liftit Startup has a challenging purpose: to improve logistics in Latin America. The Colombian company, founded in January 2017, announced in July an injection of US$22.5 million (R$113 million) to help expand its operations in the region. Today, the company operates in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Ecuador.
The investment was led by the Cambridge Capital American fund, specialized in companies in the logistics chain, such as XPO Logistics. International Finance Corporation (IFC), Monashees, Jaguar Ventures, and NXTP Ventures also participated in the round. “Cambridge Capital is the perfect partner for us because it has an in-depth background in global logistics,” says Brian York, Liftit’s president and founder.
The company plans to use the new capital to enhance its last-mile delivery automation technology, where the product reaches its final destination – typically the consumer’s home. According to York, the plan is to intensify its presence in the five countries where the company currently operates.
In addition to a 40-staff office in São Paulo, the company recently began operations in Rio de Janeiro and plans to expand to Curitiba and Salvador soon. “We will also continue to hire quality people in the cities where we are present,” says the founder. In all, the startup currently employs 300 people.
With a cloud platform, Liftit allows large freight forwarders to connect to a driver network of several types of vehicles, similar to what Uber does. This network is then able to perform different types of tracked delivery, using automation and artificial intelligence to define the best routes and reduce operation costs. Among its clients in Brazil are Heinz, AB Brasil, and JJ Alimentos.
To more easily find drivers, the company partners with the Truckpad startup, which manages a base of over 1.2 million truck drivers in the country. In general, Liftit’s partner drivers load the vehicles in the morning and complete approximately 30 deliveries throughout the day. They are paid weekly for the deliveries made in the preceding seven days.
With the pandemic, the volume of daily deliveries has increased. “All the delivery companies are benefiting from the pandemic and that includes us. We’ve had new opportunities in all five countries where we are working,” York says.
The greatest challenges for the company at the moment are to succeed in organizing this high demand for partners, who have made as many as 50 to 100 deliveries a day during the crisis, and to integrate their systems with those used by customer companies. “It’s a technological challenge, but that’s exactly why we decided to penetrate this market, due to its complexity,” says the founder.
Unlike urban transport apps, Liftit’s operation is already yielding profits in two markets in which it operates: Chile and Colombia. The company’s projection is that over the next 60 days the other three countries will reach the breakeven point and begin to make a profit. The goal is for the company to begin 2021 as a profitable business in order to focus on sustainable business growth. “It’s a good time to work with deliveries,” says York.
Source: Exame