Latvian startup”Load point”, by investing almost 1 million euros, has created a unique digital platform that connects shippers with their carriers. “CargoPoint” started operating in Latvia last January, later also in Lithuania and Estonia. Currently, the company’s goal is to become the leading cargo platform in the Baltics. By refining the functionality and look of the platform, CargoPoint expects to conquer the markets of other European countries in the near future.
The digital platform “CargoPoint” can be used by two different users: companies that need to send something, or freight forwarders, as well as cargo carriers or companies that carry out the transportation of goods, starting with passenger cars and ending with heavy vehicles. According to the head of the start-up, Mārtiņš Lucaus, several digitized solutions are being introduced in the transport sector, just like elsewhere, but the goal of “CargoPoint” is to digitize and automate the standard processes, thus creating an excellent product that is equally useful for a wide range of different users.
“This platform is unique in that it greatly facilitates some of the most time-consuming daily processes, such as finding a suitable carrier and coordinating cooperation for shippers, attracting customers and coordinating payments for transport. All these processes are performed automatically and timely by the platform on behalf of both parties. Furthermore, senders receive only one invoice from us, no matter how many orders they have placed and how many different couriers they have used. On the other hand, al instead of couriers, we automatically create an invoice for all completed orders and pay it ourselves. Therefore, when cooperating with CargoPoint, transport companies will need significantly less accounting services,” says the head of the start-up.
M. Lucaus says that a well-defined vision and the right cooperation partners play an important role in creating a successful start-up. One of the major partners of “CargoPoint”, which believed in his vision from the very beginning, is the construction equipment rental company “Storent”. The beginning of this collaboration was a turning point in the development of CargoPoint, which led to the development of the first version of CargoPoint.
Guntis Grīnbergs, Head of Sales and Business Development at ‘Storent Group’ says that the idea of this platform seemed compelling, because ‘Storent’ is always looking for ways to streamline their business processes and digitize routine daily tasks, replacing them with advanced technologies.
“When placing orders through the “CargoPoint” platform, our employees do not need to call different transport companies, find available transport and choose the best price for the service – this is done automatically through the platform. Since I myself worked as a manager of a rental point, I know how much this process takes a lot of time, and therefore I believed in this idea from the very beginning.There are various non-standard situations in our daily life, but at the moment “CargoPoint” is able to provide up to 90% of our transportation needs,” says G. Grīnberg.
Currently, “CargoPoint” actively cooperates with various Baltic companies, among which there are more than 30 freight forwarders and more than 100 transport carriers.
The manager of “CargoPoint”, M. Lucaus, points out that the initial setting of the start-up was to create a transparent and transparent platform that would make daily work as easy as possible for companies. The sender places his order on the “CargoPoint” platform, indicating the preferred type of transport for the transport of the goods. Meanwhile, this request is received by several transport companies that meet the specified criteria, whose task is to express their offer. After receiving the offers, “CargoPoint” automatically evaluates the best solution and offers the most advantageous option to the forwarder. There are already 20 different types of transport on the platform and in the near future it is also planned to provide private individuals with the opportunity to send their private shipments through the platform.
The CargoPoint app is available for iOS and Android users.
