cargo.one, a Berlin-based AI technology provider for logistics, today announced the acquisition of Lisbon’s ocean rate platform Cargofive – complemented by a near €17 million ($20 million) investment round.
The round saw participation from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners. Today also sees the launch of an AI-native OS for multimodal freight. The platform unifies air and ocean freight data into a single robust foundation, powering accurate agentic workflows to operate natively alongside teams.
This follows cargo.one’s 2020 €34.3 million raise and cargofive’s 2024 €2.5 million raise.
“Most AI projects in logistics fail to deliver ROI because they lack access to robust, structured data,” comments Moritz Claussen, founder and co-CEO of cargo.one. “Real returns come from unified data infrastructure operating at enterprise scale. With Cargofive, we’re expanding the foundation already embedded inside many of the world’s top forwarders’ operations to encompass ocean needs, and we are delivering what makes AI actually work in production.”
In the broader European logistics and FreightTech landscape in 2025–2026, several startups have attracted funding to develop digital, AI-enabled and multimodal transport solutions.
For example, MyDello from Estonia raised €3.1 million to scale its international shipping management platform, while Belgian transport management system provider Qargo secured a €28 million Series B to expand its intelligent TMS for carriers and forwarders. In Amsterdam, Sparqle raised €1.5 million to grow its sustainable last-mile delivery infrastructure, and Spanish SaaS provider Stowlog closed €1 million to drive digitalisation in port operations.
Berlin-based electric freight network NexDash raised €5 million to advance digital and electric freight services, Rome-based SWITCH secured €946k for AI-driven fleet optimisation, and Frankfurt’s intermodal TMS player Rail-Flow closed a €12.5 million Series A.
Against this backdrop, cargo.one’s near €17 million investment and acquisition of Cargofive, paired with the launch of a unified AI-native OS for multimodal freight, reflects continued investor interest in platforms that combine data infrastructure with AI-enabled automation across air, ocean and other transport modes.
Sebastian Cazajus, Ffounder and CEO of Cargofive , adds: “Across the industry, forwarders are asking for integrated air and ocean solutions that eliminate data silos. cargo.one has already set the standard in air. Together, we are bringing that same quality and scale to ocean freight, creating a truly multimodal operating foundation to enable agentic workflows.”
Today’s acquisition merges two fast-growing digital logistics players with a shared ambition to modernise freight procurement and rate management, combining cargo.one’s AI-native operating system and global carrier integrations with Cargofive’s automation expertise and expanding international footprint.
- Founded in 2017, Cargo.one is a technology provider for logistics. Freight forwarders and carriers trust cargo.one’s operating system to automate their sales and procurement through AI-native infrastructure that supports the development of tailored agentic workflows. For freight forwarders, cargo.one provides comprehensive air, ocean, and road rate data through direct integrations with 75 airlines, the top 10 ocean carriers, and dozens of GSAs globally; scalable rate data ingestion processes; and a unified operating system in which teams and AI agents work side by side.
- Founded in 2018, Cargofive is a pioneering company in the freight forwarding industry, dedicated to digitizing and automating traditional processes to enhance efficiency and customer service. With clients in over 10 countries, we are rapidly expanding our influence and capabilities in the global market.
Freight forwarders and carriers alike are investing heavily in AI programmes, but the companies explain that most solutions remain bolt-on tools that sit disconnected from the most relevant knowledge source: structured data. The result is a fragmented technology landscape where AI promises efficiency but delivers complexity and does not progress beyond the pilot phase.
cargo.one’s multimodal AI-native OS looks to address these challenges with a unified approach where agentic workflows and operational data exist natively in a single system.
“Data and AI are inseparable – quality data is the foundation for quality AI,” says Stefan Borggreve, Member of the Management Board at Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, “cargo.one has built a comprehensive operating system that our teams trust. When AI workflows operate using the same reliable data our people use daily, we can confidently deploy automation and focus on delivering the best customer experiences.”
The acquisition of Cargofive expands cargo.one’s rate data foundation by adding connections to the top 10 ocean carriers and scalable ocean rate data ingestion and management capabilities. Cargofive offers a full spectrum of ocean rates spanning four million trade lanes and is trusted by hundreds of forwarders globally.
cargo.one is now reportedly the industry’s most complete rate database, enabling freight forwarders to automate air and ocean workflows from a single platform rather than managing fragmented tools.
Unlike bolt-on AI tools that require integration with separate systems and third-party data, cargo.one’s workflows operate natively within the same platform.
“When evaluating AI partners, logistics leaders should look beyond individual features to the underlying foundation,” says Bob Goodman, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners.
“Features become commoditized quickly; what matters is having a partner with comprehensive data infrastructure and industry-specific expertise that can evolve with your needs. cargo.one has built exactly that foundation for multimodal logistics.”
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/03/german-logistics-tech-firm-cargo-one-adds-cargofive-in-e17-million-backed-multimodal-expansion/
