Freight Forwarder Nowports Hauls In Unicorn Valuation With $150M Series C Round

Logistics has become big business as the world remains tangled in supply chain snafus, with tech companies aiming to solve the problems continuing to bring in large sums of cash.

Mexico-based freight forwarder Nowports is the latest, after not just raising a $150 million Series C this morning, but also hitting unicorns status with the round valuing the company at $1.1 billion.

Venture-backed freight and logistics companies continue to see heavy investor interest after a record-setting 2021 in terms of fundraising, according to Crunchbase data. Last year, investors poured more than $21.5 billion into freight and logistic startups—more than doubling the $9.8 billion 2020 realized.

So far this year, numbers are down slightly—as they are in many industries—but are nevertheless approaching $9 billion invested.

Founded in 2018, Nowports has raised more than $240 million, according to Crunchbase data. The company will use the new funding to expand financing services in Latin America and grow its logistics platform in the region. The company also plans to open new offices, including in Brazil, Mexico and Chile. The 500-person company currently has active offices in seven countries.

SoftBank’s involvement

The new round was led by SoftBank Latin America Fund, with participation from a plethora of other investors including  Tiger Global, Foundation Capital and Tencent.

SoftBank’s Latin America Fund wasn’t its only fund in the news today, as its Vision Fund 2 led a $150 million Series B round in livestreaming commerce and digital platform Firework.

The deal announcements come just about two weeks after SoftBank—an investor in tech giants like Didi and Uber— told investors there will be a “stricter selection of investments” for the new year after posting a loss of $27.7 billion on investments in its Vision Fund for its just-ended fiscal year.

Photo courtesy of iStock

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