Airspace Announces $70 Million Round Of Funding Focused On Global Expansion & Sustainability

News provided by

May 25, 2022, 09:00 ET

On track to double growth in 2022, a global leader in time-critical logistics continues to expand into new geographies and markets

CARLSBAD, Calif. , May 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Airspace, the technology company revolutionizing time-critical logistics, today announced it has closed on additional funding totaling $70 million. This round is led by DBL Partners and co-led by Telstra Ventures and HarbourVest Partners and brings total funding to date to $138 million. Funding will be leveraged to accelerate market penetration in Europe and further expand into Asia. In addition, the company will continue to build out its core business while also launching new service lines such as expedited freight, and will expand into new customer verticals such as semiconductor, automotive & cleantech.

The growth plans come with a renewed focus on sustainability, which is a core value for many Airspace customers. This was a key driver for partnering with DBL Partners, a firm uniquely focused on the 'second bottom line' which is a company's social, environmental, and economic impact. DBL Partners, Telstra Ventures, and HarbourVest were joined by existing investors Scale Ventures, Defy Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, and Prologis Ventures.

"We're thrilled to announce this new round of funding, which will help us capitalize on the immense opportunity in the time-critical logistics industry," said Nick Bulcao, co-founder and CEO at Airspace. "As we grow, our AI and machine learning platform only gets better, allowing us to better predict and dynamically respond to the challenges of critical logistics. With supply chain disruptions continuing to impact countries worldwide, no time in history has time-critical shipping & logistics been so essential to ensuring these complex and sensitive shipments reach their destinations on time. With these additional funds, we'll be able to expand into new geographies and industries, reliably delivering critical packages when time is of the essence, in the most environmentally conscious way possible."

As part of the company's latest funding announcement, Ira Ehrenpreis, Founder and Managing Partner at DBL Partners, and Joel Hwang, Principal of HarbourVest, have been appointed to Airspace's Board of Directors.

Time-Critical Logistics Market Explodes Due to Global Supply Chain Disruptions

The market for time-critical shipping has exploded in the wake of global supply chain disruptions and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 21.98% and surpass $32.46 billion by 2030. Airspace is widely regarded as a global leader in time-critical logistics, making shipping faster, safer, and more transparent than ever through people, service, and technology. Incredibly, the company is able to track over 16,000 touchpoints throughout the course of a time-critical shipment, allowing Airspace to understand and anticipate every possible outcome for a given shipment.

Time-critical shipments are particularly difficult to deliver given the complexity of routing, tracking, and dynamically adjusting as conditions change. As a result, as much as 33 percent of time-critical packages are lost or delayed en route. The supply chain disruptions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have only exacerbated these challenges, resulting in unprecedented challenges for shippers looking for reliable delivery of packages that matter the most. These include medical deliveries such as organ transplants and life-saving medications, critical components for broken-down machinery, sensitive inventory, and more. Airspace has revolutionized the industry, ensuring that critical package deliveries are more resilient to disruptions, because they leverage a deep layer of AI and machine learning technologies to predict and adapt to every possible obstacle to on-time delivery. Airspace provides real-time data and transparency on every shipment, enabling companies to track their critical shipments with precision.

Airspace provides shippers with the visibility & flexibility to optimize their logistics decisions based on the factors that matter the most to them. To that end, many of the company's largest customers are increasingly focused on sustainability and ultimately becoming carbon-neutral. "Airspace is unique in its ability to provide complete transparency into the carbon footprint of time-critical deliveries, enabling customers to optimize routes with the least possible environmental impact," said Ira Ehrenpreis, Founder and Managing Partner at DBL Partners. "By optimizing for speed and transparency, as well as sustainability, Airspace is building a true double bottom line company."

Funds to Support Geographic and Product Expansion
Airspace has been building momentum over the past six years, growing 110% in 2021 and opening offices in Carlsbad, CA, Dallas, Amsterdam, and Stockholm. This summer, the company's newest office location will open in London. Airspace now has more than 300 employees and has completed over one million shipments. It serves numerous Fortune 500 companies that include industry leaders in healthcare, aerospace, semiconductor, and automotive manufacturing.

Airspace is on pace to double in size again in 2022 by focusing on two key areas:

Geographic expansion: Over the past two years, Airspace has enjoyed tremendous success in Europe, and the region now accounts for more than 10% of revenue, up from 1.5% in 2020. The company now services 134 countries globally.
Product expansion: Historically, Airspace has been focused on critical small parcels, but now allows customers to ship critical packages of any size. As such, they've experienced tremendous interest and growth in time-critical freight shipments. "Our goal is to be able to ship the most packages to any destination, regardless of size," Bulcao said.

These efforts have unlocked Airspace's ability to serve global enterprise customers in new and diverse verticals, including High Tech, Automotive, and Clean Technology. "With an NPS score of 60 – far exceeding the industry average by 40 points or more – and a 99.8% monthly retention rate, Airspace's reputation speaks for itself and will help to drive additional revenue moving forward," Bulcao said.

"Airspace continues to dominate the market segment with impressive and steady growth since its inception, and we anticipate the company's plans for expansion across geographies and verticals to propel that growth further," said Mark Sherman, Managing Partner at Telstra Ventures. "Their ability to combine exceptional human capital with advanced AI technology is what sets them apart from competing market players, and enables them to fill the essential need for time-critical logistics."

About Airspace
Based in Carlsbad, Calif., Airspace was founded in 2016 and has grown to be the leading global delivery network for time-critical logistics. The company was recently named to the 2022 CNBC Disruptor 50 list. Airspace makes shipping faster, safer, and more transparent than ever through people, service, and technology. From real-time, data-driven notifications to tracking over 16,000 touchpoints within a shipment, Airspace surfaces more information than any other provider, increasing the velocity and transparency of the supply chain. To learn more about Airspace, please visit www.airspace.com.

Follow Airspace on Twitter and LinkedIn.

MC: Rob Kerpatrick | 5045125502 | [email protected]

SOURCE Airspace