To logisticians

In the now and future of logistics, I aim to provide an in-depth analysis of the news, trends, and technology happening in the logistics & supply chain space in under 5 minutes or less.

The goal is to keep logisticians in the know of what is happening in the industry. For weekly news expect them Monday and Thursday while in-depth analysis on select topics in the space: Wednesday or Sunday.

In today’s Inbox:

• In the box; Pando, Droneup, and ZEBOX

• E-commerce logistics: Walmart, Instacart, and Shopify

• Technology: Computer vision robotics & AI-powered picker

• Old guards: Mullen Group, RoadOne, and Amazon

Let’s dive in.

Silent reading time: 4 mins 57 secs [ 1,076 words ]

In the Box

Pando lands $30 million Series B

The co-launchers ( Jayakrishnan and Abhijeet Manohar) who previously worked on iDelivery -an Indian-based freight tech marketplace recently landed $30 million for their development fulfillment technology start-up.

This brings the total funding to $45 million from their previous investments. The funding was co-led by Iron Pillar and Uncorrelated Ventures with other existing participants including:

• Nexus Venture Partners,

• Chiratae Ventures

• Next47

The funding will be used to expand Pando’s global sales, marketing, and delivery capabilities.

Notable competitors: Atlana, Everstream

DroneUp and Irish Automation partner

The leading autonomous delivery platform recently announced a partnership with Irish Automation - an AI-based vision technology for crewed and uncrewed aircraft to prevent airborne collisions.

The company’s technology - Casia G Technology will help DroneUp deploy safe deliveries while it expands its drone delivery in the U.S.

Tech: Casia features an optical, full 360-degree regard aircraft detection, classification, and alerting system. To help it scale to new communities and users.

“The technology behind Casia G for BVLOS has the potential to be a game-changer in demonstrating that delivery in more populated areas can be as convenient and secure as it currently is in rural environments. Through this partnership, DroneUp can dramatically scale operations, free from restrictions.” - John Vernon, CTO of DroneUp

ZEBOX by CMA CGM

The international accelerator network launched by the shipping conglomerate CMA CGM to introduce more tech innovation into the supply chain industry recently announced it was launching its APAC headquarters in Singapore.

The APAC hub is backed by Enterprise Singapore, a board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry to foster SME development, and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, alongside industry partners Bureau Veritas Marine and Offshore, PSA unboXed, and Synergy Marine Group.

ZEBOX already has hubs in France, West Africa, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom. The incubator has collaborated with over 100 start-ups and collectively raised $235 million. Some corporate partners they have worked with include:

• Infosys

• Centrimex

• BNP Paribas

• CEVA Logistics

E-commerce Logistics

Walmart’s DTC sell-offs

Between 2016 and 2018, Walmart went heavy into direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands including; Bonobos, ModCloth, and Shoes. com, Eloquii, and moree.

However, now Walmart has entered into an agreement to sell off some of its DTC brands including; Moosejaw, Bonobos, and Eloquii.

The retail giant learned a lot from the brands for its e-commerce growth. Senior Managing Director Joe Feldman at Telsey Advisory Group, had this to say about Walmart selling off some of its DTC brands:

“I think that they found that third-party brands can be just as effective and profitable and maybe more profitable than owning the brand themselves.”

Instacart and PetSmart partner

The on-demand delivery company has recently partnered with PetSmart to do same-day delivery from 1,500 stores across the United States.

This expansion is a result of the successful launch of PetSmart from 150 stores in Canada.

Shopify sells logistics business to Flexport

The leading e-commerce software for merchants launched a logistics division to take on Amazon.

However, last week, Shopify announced its selling this division to Flexport - a decade-old freight and logistics platform.

Shopify’s e-commerce customers will have access to the full range of Flexport’s freight services that can ship internationally as well as domestic home delivery.

Technology

Groundlight raises $10m for its AI-powered computer vision service robotics

The company said its platform can be integrated into applications such as process monitoring, industrial automation, retail analytics, robotics, and video stream analytics.

“As the most powerful AI models get better, there is the tendency to think that all you need is a Large Language Model. -Leo Dirac.

Groundlight’s innovative platform empowers any developer, even those without data science experience, to quickly build robust vision solutions.

ABB’s AI-enabled robotic picker for warehouses

ABB Robotics has enhanced its industry-leading logistics automation portfolio with the launch of the Robotic Item Picker.

The managing director of consumer segments and service robotics at ABB Robotics had this to say, Daniel Navarro,

With its ability to learn and adapt in constantly changing warehouse environments, our AI-enabled Robotic Item Picker sees items and decides how to pick them, at speed with more than 99.5 percent efficiency, helping businesses overcome these challenges and build resilience.”

The company’s focus is to meet the global labor shortage in warehouses to help drive the need for flexible automated solutions for order fulfillment and distribution.

Old Guards

Mullen Group

The Canadian trucking and logistic provider, Mullen Group announced it would acquire fellow Alberta carrier B. & R. Eckel’s Transport. The purchase funds would be in cash, and funds from lines of credit.

Amazon

The e-commerce giant opened a robotic fulfillment center in Windsor, Connecticut to work alongside thousands of workers. According to Amazon Spokesperson, the facility will have “thousands of robotic systems such as mobile robots and robotic handling systems that help employees deliver for customers every day.”

RoadOne

The Florida-based carrier has acquired Ace Transport Miami to boost its offering between the US and Latin America for customers. The purchase price was not disclosed.

That is it for now.

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To more tech in logistics.

Okerosi.