PR92089

LONDON, Oct. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Highlights:

- $50 million raised in oversubscribed Series B fundraise

- Round led by new investor Northstar.vc

- Funds will accelerate growth by investing in people, technology and

  continued market expansion

- Round follows on from $15 million Series A, announced in June 2020, which

  was led by 8VC and Jeff Bezos

Beacon [ https://beacon.com/ ], the digital supply chain and freight platform,

has raised over $50 million in its Series B round, led by Northstar.vc. Upper90

also participated as a new investor. The fresh capital will be used to grow the

team, continue the development of Beacon's technology and expand into new

markets.

Since completing its Series A in early 2020, Beacon has experienced hyper

growth as a result of surging customer demand. Revenue has grown 12x in the

last 12 months, while the team has increased from 24 to 180, including

expansion into Asia with a new office in Hong Kong.

Existing investors also participated in the Series B round, including Jeff

Bezos, the founder and executive chair of Amazon, Marc Benioff, founder,

chairman and CEO of Salesforce, as well as leading US venture capital firms 8VC

and Expa.

The digital transformation of logistics, and supply chains more broadly, had

begun before the onset of COVID-19, but the pandemic has accelerated this

evolution. The continuing shift to online retail, combined with sky-high

freight rates and consumer demand for faster, more reliable delivery times, has

placed extraordinary pressure on businesses and their supply chains. One of the

most effective ways for businesses to compete in this new environment is with

full, digital visibility of their supply chains and logistics operations.

Beacon co-founder and CEO Fraser Robinson said: "We are extremely pleased with

the progress to date, and this latest round of investment, from some of the

leading names in business and technology, is an endorsement of our strategy and

rapid growth.

We established Beacon to transform how businesses manage their supply chain and

logistics operations. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into the

spotlight the importance of resilient, reliable, and transparent global supply

chains, which has only served to reinforce the need for our technology and

service.

We have seen high levels of demand throughout the pandemic, and in the last

year we have significantly grown our team, product and geographical presence in

order to meet this demand, while providing first-class customer service. These

new funds will enable us to further accelerate growth by continuing to invest

in our people and platform so that we can continue our mission to revolutionise

the global supply chain."

Amir Karimpour, Managing Partner at Northstar.vc, said: "At Northstar, we back

technologies that have the potential to alter the trajectory of their

respective industries, and Beacon's game-changing platform has the potential to

transform supply chains globally. We are excited to partner with Beacon's world

class team as they continue to expand and create value for their customers."

Beacon is an integrated digital supply chain and freight platform, whose

mission is to help businesses optimise their supply chains with end-to-end

visibility, payments, and insights. The company offers a full range of

services, including global ocean, air and road freight, customs clearance,

insurance, reporting, data insights and supply chain finance, all accessed and

managed in a single platform. From bookings to order management and live

tracking, Beacon's secure cloud-based software connects the key players and

milestones in customers' supply chains to provide a central combined view, and

actionable insights. Beacon was founded in 2018 by CEO Fraser Robinson and COO

Dmitri Izmailov, both former Uber executives.

www.beacon.com

About Beacon:

Beacon is an integrated digital supply chain and freight platform, whose

mission is to help businesses optimise their supply chains with end-to-end

visibility, payments, and insights. The company offers a full range of

services, including global ocean, air and road freight, customs clearance,

insurance and supply chain finance, all accessed and managed in a single

platform.

From bookings to order management and live tracking, Beacon's secure

cloud-based software connects the key players and milestones in customers'

supply chains to provide a central combined view, and actionable insights.

The company was founded in 2018 by CEO Fraser Robinson and COO Dmitri Izmailov,

former Uber executives, creating a management team with deep expertise in

logistics, technology, finance and hyper-growth. Beacon is headquartered in

London and also has an office in Hong Kong.

Source: Beacon