DigiHaul has secured first round funding of £14.4 million, which includes the global leader in logistics, DHL, and leading South Asia-based digital freight business, Ezyhaul. DigiHaul connects shippers to trusted carriers through a frictionless digital freight platform, helping to tackle some of the biggest challenges in the supply chain industry.
The UK is facing a critical driver shortage, meanwhile approximately 20% of trucks on the road are running empty at a cost to the environment as well as the businesses that operate within the transport sector. DigiHaul aims to tackle these challenges at a national level by providing a solution to optimise the UK’s transportation network.
Already one of the UK’s largest carrier networks, DigiHaul gives shippers immediate access to capacity across the UK with upfront pricing, and provides carriers the opportunity to take on new jobs, enabling them to grow or optimise their operations with new routes and backloading.
DigiHaul offers a simple, fast and transparent digital solution that replaces the manual and time-consuming process of managing multiple subcontractors, calling around for quotes, physical paperwork and billing. Shippers can book a load through DigiHaul in just a few clicks, manage documentation and payment in one place and track the shipment through its entire journey. Meanwhile, carriers can log into the app to secure the jobs they want quickly and invoice automatically.
The investment from DHL and Ezyhaul represents a commitment by both businesses to supply chain digitalisation. DHL and Ezyhaul will both take a minority share in DigiHaul, and the investment will be used to support ambitious growth plans through customer and carrier acquisition.
Oscar de Bok, CEO of DHL Supply Chain said: “DigiHaul is a perfect example of a data-led solution to the real-world problems of empty running and network constraints for shippers. Digitalising this process is long overdue. By creating a national network, the freight industry can start operating much more efficiently.”
DigiHaul CEO Martin Willmor says: “We’re now seeing some of the longstanding challenges in freight come to a head in a way that could have serious consequences. It’s critical that our industry evolves so it can continue performing its essential role keeping the economy moving. DigiHaul is creating an opportunity to transform and modernise the industry and leave behind the manual processes and constraints of the old freight ecosystem.”
Raymond Gillon, CEO of Ezyhaul, says: “DigiHaul has huge potential to drive positive change in the UK market. The concept has been proven by Ezyhaul in South East Asia and the DigiHaul team have demonstrated the need for this solution in the UK by scaling so rapidly in such a short timeframe.”
Martin Willmor continues: “As well as being a mutually beneficial solution for shippers and carriers, DigiHaul is designed to provide the simplicity and convenience users have come to expect from digital services. There’s no reason why freight management has to be time consuming and complex.”
DigiHaul currently has a base of 700 carriers and is managing +2000 shipments per week and +100,000 shipments per year from industries including FMCG, retail and manufacturing.
