tegUp, Tegma’s startup accelerator, invests in Fast Freight to leverage its growth

Anyone who works or buys through e-commerce knows that one of the biggest obstacles is hiring freight. Some factors, such as the size of the purchased product or the place of delivery, often make the acquisition difficult or significantly more expensive. To speed up and make this process cheaper, Freight Fast, a startup in the logistics area, started in 2015 the development of a platform that brings together, on one hand, a significant number of carriers and, on the other, e-commerce companies. The benefits of this integration have been evident, which is confirmed by the growth of operations carried out in this environment.

From now on, Fast Freight will be able to increase its growth plans. The startup was selected in the program created by TegUp to identify and select innovative technological tools for the logistics area. The interest in this area has a clear reason: TegUp belongs to Tegma, one of the main logistics companies in the country. The contract signed between TegUp and Fast Freight includes an investment in the amount of R$ 1.4 million, which will be used to improve this platform, further increasing its benefits for the three parties involved: e-commerce companies, carriers and consumers.

As Mário Rodrigues, founder and CEO of the startup explains, the developed platform operates as a hub bringing together partner carriers. At the other end of this tool are e-commerce companies. When the customer is in the last stage of the purchase, closing his “cart”, the system offers him, in real time, the best freight options, which allows him to assess the price and deadline for transporting the goods. Once the most suitable freight is chosen, the tool takes care of automating the entire transport and delivery process, from forwarding the pickup order to the carrier to accessing the product transport tracking at all stages.

The use of this tool is advantageous for the consumer, e-commerce company and carrier. The consumer can choose the most convenient shipping and benefit from the discount that carriers offer Fast Shipping due to the high volume of goods carried. Carriers now have a wide range of potential customers, without having to invest in integration processes or in capturing new customers. On the other hand, e-commerce companies can include this tool in their sales system, eliminating the tasks of searching, negotiating, signing individual agreements and integrating with several carriers, being increasingly efficient and reducing costs.

In addition to the gains generated by cost savings and the possibility of using a fully automated and proven efficient system, by integrating the Fast Shipping system both carriers and e-commerce companies can focus solely on their “core business”, concentrating their investments and their strategies in the stages inherent to their operation. The receptivity that the innovative logistics platform has been gaining can be translated into numbers. In 2018, more than 30,000 freight quotes have been registered per day.

Startup Acceleration Program

TegUp’s startup acceleration program began in 2017, with the completion of the first cycle for the selection of innovative companies, which resulted in the partnership with Freight Fast. The initiative aims to identify and select startups that develop technological tools in the logistics area. According to Pedro Neves, project leader at TegUp and responsible for Tegma’s Information Technology area, the program identifies and encourages startups that develop technology that complements the company’s, which allows creating synergies to face new challenges and expand the its competitive capacity.

The partnership signed with Fast Shipping includes, in addition to the possibility of expanding the network with customers of Tegma, one of the most important logistics companies in the country, financial investment. “A startup needs resources to be able to grow and usually doesn’t have enough life to grow organically”, ponders Mário Rodrigues. Through the partnership with TegUp, it will be possible to implement a consistent development plan and take advantage of the synergy between Tegma and Fast Shipping by offering a tool that incorporates technological advances to integrate e-commerce operations with those of carriers.

Information about the operation of Fast Shipping can be obtained on the startup’s website: freterapido.com.