Smartlane

The company's core offering, Smartlane Transport Intelligence, is designed to digitize and automate transport planning and dispatching, primarily for part-load distribution and less-than-truckload (LTL) logistics. This market segment faces growing shipment volumes and a shortage of specialized personnel like dispatchers and drivers. Smartlane's software addresses this by analyzing over 250 planning parameters to create optimized routes, which can reduce dispatching effort by up to 90% and cut both costs and CO2 emissions by as much as 21%. The platform operates on a pay-per-use basis where clients can upload job sheets, and the algorithm generates optimized routing solutions in minutes, even with incomplete data. Customers include small and medium-sized businesses in the part-load distribution sector, such as members of the Cargoline network and companies like Hartmann International and Niedermaier Spedition.

Smartlane's technology is implemented through a guided, step-by-step process, often starting with on-site workshops to ensure the solution aligns with a client's specific operational processes. The software integrates with existing Transport Management Systems (TMS), feeding optimized plans back into the client's familiar interface. The platform’s benefits have been quantified by clients, with Hartmann International, for instance, reducing daily dispatching time by five hours. The business model generates revenue through its SaaS platform, and it has successfully secured funding to fuel its growth. In January 2022, Smartlane closed a Series A funding round of over €6 million, combining funds from investors like JOVA Direkt Invest GmbH, F-LOG Ventures, and Freigeist, with a €1.7 million grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC). This capital is being used to expand the team and advance product development toward fully autonomous logistics systems.