Eindhoven-based Tracey, an AI startup that monetises shipment data with its advanced data analytics, announced on Wednesday that it has secured the final investment of its Seed round, raising a total of €600K, including a Rabobank Innovation Loan.
The investment was led by Limburg Technology Investment Fund (LTIF). Founded in 2020, LTIF is an early-stage venture capital fund that backs startups from the Southeast region of the Netherlands in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.
Two angel investors, with a background in IT and logistics, also participated in this round.
“Monetising your shipment data”
Founded in 2019 by Huib Adriaans, Bart Michiels, and Sander Hak, Tracey has developed its smart solution, Parcel Engine, that can be connected to ERP, WMS, DMS, and webshop systems to extract, process, and analyse shipment data.
The AI-powered analyses include carrier performance analysis and benchmarking, near real-time exception monitoring and notification, and prediction of issues in the delivery process like delays. Tracey claims that all its products assist in optimal carrier selection, customer service automation, and improved delivery experience.
Founder Huib Adriaans says, “The growth of e-commerce over the past years, fueled by Covid, led to a tremendous increase in the number of parcels shipped. Most shippers are fully focused on the actual order fulfilment process, so the shipment data remains unutilised. Yet, there is a lot of potential value in this data that we help unlock with the help of data science and artificial intelligence. Because of this rapid growth, the momentum is now, and we are more than happy with the trust and support of this consortium to bring our products to the market.”
Currently, the company is focusing on shippers, for example, online stores, e-fulfilment companies, and distributors, who use multiple carriers and often ship cross-border. Amongst its first customers are Active Ants, a bpost company, E-Commerce Center Europe, a fulfilment company, and Cheap Cargo, part of PostNL.
Capital utilisation
Tracey says that funds will help bring its newest AI-powered products to the market as well as accelerate its growth in The Netherlands and Belgium.
The smart solutions of Tracey now allow shippers to gain insight into the performance and possibilities of carriers and compare those. The company has also launched a new tool to predict delays in the delivery process fast and accurately.
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