Luckily, I continue to receive a good amount of interesting early stage companies to share here. So, as mentioned last week, even though I said “every other Wednesday” on the first edition, I will send another one today (and every week I feel there is a startup worth sharing with you) but the rule is on a bi-weekly basis here, and a weekly basis for the usual LatAm Tech Weekly 😊
This series will be dedicated to very early stage startups that are under the radar – and have a good story to tell. The basic criteria is a company that is not on the media/spotlight and is NOT actively raising proceeds. There is also no bias – apart from the fact that I like the story. I am not an investor or get any financial compensation to promote startups featured. This is intended for informational purposes only, using my solid base of subscribers to share intel of good people doing cool things.
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Talura: International Freight Marketplace to connect shippers with the best freight quotes.
Business overview: Talura is the first SaaS Marketplace platform in Latin America that connects importers and exporters with the best international freight quotes.
What problem is it solving? For shippers, the process to hire an international freight quote is challenging and laborious: It takes ~70 emails to negotiate with suppliers (freight forwarders) to close an international freight proposal. Talura is an online SaaS Marketplace that connects importers and exporters with international freight quotes from verified freight forwarders.
The platform:
Step 1 – Freight Quote Solicitation:
The shipper makes a freight quotation in the platform defining how the item will be transported (air, sea or land), the type of equipment necessary and other relevant information. It takes only 1 minute to complete the forms. Also, clients can quote and hire other services such as international cargo insurance, customs clearance and carbon credit.
Step 2 – Freight Forwarders Send Proposals:
Talura’s partners (the sellers) receive the international freight quote from the shipper and can choose to send a proposal or not. They just have to fill a proposal form with information about their offer – costs (from origin, freight and destination), the transport company, departure date, transit time and other relevant details.
Step 3 – Shipper Chooses the Best Proposal:
The shippers in Talura’s platform receive on average 4 proposals for each quotation made. All the information follows the same pattern, so they can compare costs and other variables easily. Then, the shipper can hire the proposal it prefers. From this, Talura will connect the shipper with the selected freight forwarder for both parties to start the international logistics process.
Key Metrics:
· +220 international logistics partners (freight forwarders)
· 290% of GMV growth in 2022
· R$ 3 million monthly GMV and increasing
· 285% containers handled growth in 2022
· More than 1.400 containers handled in 2022
Real Use Case:
Talura is providing Josapar, one of the biggest rice producers in Brazil, with competitive international freights offers that led to a 19% cost reduction with international logistics and better conditions to ship their rice loads to global markets (Saudi Arabia, Angola, Peru and others).
Main Clients:
· Cooxupé: biggest coffee cooperative from Brazil
· Nadir Figueiredo: glass manufacturer in Brazil
· Marel: Iceland-based multinational food processing company
· BRF
Team:
Total amount raised (USD): ~USD 400k
Main investors: Comexport and angels