CarrierPoint Shifts into First -- funding, that is
By Evelina Shmukler, dbusiness.com
ATLANTA, GA, September 29, 1999 /dbusiness.com/
CarrierPoint Corp. has fueled up as it prepares to
launch its online auction Web site for the trucking
industry.
The Atlanta startup has received a $1.25 million infusion
from a Ft. Lauderdale venture firm and a New York private
equity fund. CarrierPoint is about 30 to 45 days away
from debuting its beta site and employs 13 people.
Ft. Lauderdale's CyberLab Ventures and New York's William
E. Simon & Sons have invested in the company's first
round, said CarrierPoint's president John Thomson. IXL
Enterprises has also bought in to the idea, trading
advice and services for an equity stake, he told dbusiness.com.
CarrierPoint plans to develop a site where trucking
companies can bid on work that they otherwise might
not have known about, Thomson explained.
For example, if Georgia-Pacific (which is working closely
with CarrierPoint to develop the service, Thomson said)
needs a truckload of paper pulp delivered from Doraville
to Philadelphia, CarrierPoint would grab this information
and automatically post it on its site. Then, trucking
companies - some of whom may have an empty truck headed
home to Philadelphia from Atlanta - could bid on the
load.
The shipper gets more competitive rates, Thomson said,
and the trucking company reduces its "deadhead" miles,
or miles spent carrying empty or partially-empty truckloads.
"We enable true market pricing," Thomson said.
The company also plans to offer payment processing
online and a system of rating trucking companies, as
well as data warehousing and document management.
CarrierPoint is already looking for its next round
of funding, expected to raise $10 million to $15 million.
The company's competitors are mostly other startups,
Thomson said. CarrierPoint's most formidable competitor,
it seems, is The National Transportation Exchange Inc.
That company was founded in 1993, has over 350 members
and offers online, real-time pricing of shipments. Also,
another startup, Global Freight Exchange offers competitive
pricing for air freight cargo. That company, according
to its Web site, will begin live trading in the spring
of next year.
Evelina
Shmukler covers the Atlanta region for dbusiness.com.
Email her with story ideas or comments.
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