“Paul Little interviewed us to get into Skalata, and he said you’re doing the right thing, but in the wrong way. Your customers (importers and exporters) know exactly what they want,” Mr Hagan said.
“That was a pivotal moment to be told by someone who has an Order of Australia for his contribution to logistics where we were going wrong.
“Since then, we’ve formed a strong relationship with Paul, and we chat with him multiple times a month, and he’s mentored me and Alex.”
The change in direction turned Explorate from a marketplace into a digital freight forwarder, with the company providing an interface for importers and exporters to interact with the logistics industry.
More than $200 million of goods have now been shipped through the platform.
“We’ve seen a massive change in supply chains over the last few years. The information flow that is required to ship goods around the world is becoming increasingly complex and the cost of shipping internationally has increased by over 250 per cent in the last year alone,” Mr Hagan said.
“Our platform helps importers and exporters to reduce these supply chain impacts by comparing rates and sailing times, simplifying complicated shipments as well as giving insight into the carbon impact of their logistics operations.”
The capital raised will help the business expand from 35 people to 70 within the next 12 months.
The co-founders approached the likes of Blackbird and AirTree as part of its capital raise, but settled on EVP as its lead investor thanks to the fund’s knowledge of the logistics industry.
“From the first conversation with EVP … they were sharp and understood the industry more than any other [investor],” Mr Hagan said.
“In terms of the future of the business, our goal is to be one of the world’s leading freight forwarders, even taking the digital component out of it.
“With Japan Post buying Toll and its performance since then, there’s a big gap in the market. That void is now ours to fill.”
Mr Jasper said like the construction industry that Aconex served, the logistics sector had been slow adopters of technology, but that meant there was plenty of scope for disruption.
“Partly because of the fragmentation and low use of tech, it’s been a market that’s been slow to digitise and to use technology well. That’s where Explorate have done well,” he said.
“I’ve looked at some other businesses in logistics broadly, but Explorate look like a real leader in the space.”
