That’s the motto logistics startup Turvo lives by. It seems to be working well so far, as logistics platform Turvo recently raised a $25 million Series A.
CEO Eric Gilmore noticed an issue in the supply chain industry: the world had changed, but much of the underlying business processes had not. Seeing the lack of innovative progress and the inherent opportunity costs, Gilmore started Turvo to make needed changes, ushering in digital transformation.
Before Turvo, the market for logistics services was incredibly complicated, with little to no visibility between supply chains and virtually no access to information on either end of the shipping transaction. Each party involved in the process found frustration with the lack of connectivity, recordkeeping, ability to interact with other involved parties, mismanagement of cargo, and so many other factors.
The norm for logistics was to manage shipments with pen and paper, outdated software with many manual tasks and communication via phone, email, and fax, all very inefficient processes that are still widely used today, which is Turvo’s chief raison d’etre.
Logistics impacts practically every facet of daily life, but archaic processes still dominate a sector accounting for 7.5% of US GDP. Gilmore attributes these failure of supply chains to the fact that logistics has always been a cost center, as opposed to one for profit.
The question Gilmore strove to answer was how does one make a transformation here? His answer: change the economic model.
A Total Transformation of Transportation
While many logistics startups are bringing some much-needed disruption to the logistics world, they’re narrowly focused on massively improving one aspect. Conversely, Turvo is aiming to verifiably boost the entire of the supply chain from end to end.
Unparalleled by other companies, Gilmore built a holistically collaborative logistics platform, one that connects shippers, brokers, and carriers, making Turvo an all-in-one solution for the space that would simplify the complexity of operating in logistics.
Turvo revolutionizes the entire process of the supply chain merely by offering an interface that is simple and convenient to use and allows for cross-company collaboration, making it easy for everyone in the supply chain to share shipments, documents, messages, and even assign tasks to agents within and outside their own organization.
Under Turvo, connectivity in logistics has never seemed so easy.
With a new kind of vertical integration, shippers can place their orders and have Al-powered algorithms work to match the shipment with recommended carriers based on availability, cost, and performance. Turvo also offers real-time visibility on shipments, which allows customers to track their goods from dispatch to delivery.
The startup is girded by a transaction-based business model, meaning that customers pay a fee per shipment rather than a binding monthly or yearly membership. No party is charged for collaborating, which makes Turvo all the more attractive for every party involved in logistics – only the originator of the transaction on Turvo pays the fee.
“I really want to foster a sense of collaboration between these entities,” said Gilmore, referring to the shippers, brokers, carriers, and receivers that have begun adopting Turvo.
Examples of collaboration available to Turvo’s customers include, but aren’t limited to, creating the shipment order, requesting and receiving status updates, managing documents necessary for the shipments, and assigning tasks to other parties to facilitate the shipment.
With several renowned companies in the industry like Oberto Brands and Le Metier De Beaute in its network, as well as funds raised from several investors, Turvo seems to be heading in the right direction, giving the traditional world of logistics a hotly anticipated and total makeover.
