We’re pleased to have advised Portcast, a Singapore-based logistics startup, on its recent US$3.2m pre-series A round. The round was led by Imperial Venture Fund, a joint corporate VC vehicle between Newtown Partners and South African logistics company Imperial. Other participants in the round include Wavemaker Partners, TMV, Innoport, and SGInnovate.

Portcast offers a SaaS platform that enables freight forwarders and manufacturers to achieve real-time visibility using historical data and AI modelling. It enables the logistics industry to track shipments in real time and to predict events that might affect their progress, such as tides, weather events, and pandemic-related supply issues. The platform can also map out the cascading effects of disruptions such as with the Suez Canal congestion.

Portcast was founded in 2018 by CEO and co-founder Nidhi Gupta. Prior to Portcast, Gupta spent 10 years in the logistics industry in senior leadership roles.

With its new round of funding, the company intends to double its team size, expand into new markets and launch new product features such as order-level visibility and scenario planning.

Partner Chris Wilson says of the deal, “Logistics is an industry that is ready for transformation, and this has become even more apparent in the context of the disruptions caused during the pandemic. We look forward to seeing Portcast’s technology making the logistics field more efficient, effective, and robust.”

Read our other recent deal announcements here.