Freight Coordination Platform Cartage Raises $3.3M Led by Y Combinator
Cargo Coordination Software Provider Cartage Announces $3.3 Million Funding Round
Cartage, a provider of cargo coordination software, announced on Thursday that it has completed a $3.3 million funding round led by Y Combinator, Garage Capital, Wayfinder Ventures, Northside Ventures, Pioneer Fund, and Ritual Capital. The funds will be used to automate freight operations for shippers and carriers.
Angel investors also participated in the funding round, including Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator; Nate Smith, founder of Lever; Kulveer Taggar, co-founder of Zeus; Ian Logan, former partner at TMS Rose Rocket; and Caleb Gawne.
Cargo bidding remains a very traditional process, with many brokers still relying on phone calls and emails to coordinate shipments. Cartage aims to change this situation.
The team was founded by individuals with extensive experience in the freight industry. Co-founder and COO Harman Sahota grew up in the trucking business and started his career as a freight broker at just 14 years old. Later, he bootstrapped and expanded a logistics company named Westcore Logistics.
On the technology front, Cartage’s other co-founders CEO Abdul Basharat and CTO Josh Lampen were early product developers at freight software startup Rose Rocket, where they developed collaboration features for brokers and carriers.
The company’s mission is to introduce modern technology into a slow-adopting industry. Cartage does not aim to change how shippers, brokers, and carriers prefer to communicate but rather integrates artificial intelligence seamlessly into existing workflows such as emails and phone calls.
“The industry doesn’t need to change for the technology; we believe that the technology needs to change for the industry,” Basharat said. “People aren’t going to give up phones. They’re also not giving up email. But AI allows us to replicate these processes, have systems make calls and send emails while still having human intervention when needed.”
This approach seems to resonate with customers. Cartage reports that its scale is doubling month over month as it works with a diverse customer base ranging from small shippers to large enterprises.
“What caught my attention about Cartage was how uniquely they implemented technology without changing the way people work,” Chris Howard, founder and general partner at Ritual Capital, told FreightWaves in an email. “It’s a smart and practical application of AI. The founding team combines actual experience with logistics and technology, making them well-suited to tackle the challenges. The team is poised to build something truly groundbreaking.”
The founders are also optimistic about the current freight market, seeing it as an opportunity for much-needed innovation. The company believes that as the market evolves, shippers will increasingly seek more transparent and cost-efficient logistics solutions.
By charging lower margins and passing on savings to both shippers and carriers, Cartage aims to disrupt traditional brokerage models.
“I think traditional brokers usually try to drive carrier rates down as much as possible. That’s not our goal,” Sahota said. “Our aim is to have good carriers working our lanes and giving them fair rates.”
Looking ahead, Cartage plans to use the new capital to continue growing its logistics business and develop internal automation capabilities. The ultimate goal is to achieve “touchless loads,” where most of the transportation can be handled automatically with human coordinators intervening only in exceptional cases.
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Source: FreightWaves
