ZIM announced today, February 27, 2019, that it has made a direct investment in the technology company Ladingo, which just closed a $1M funding round, the company said in its release. ZIM opted to invest in Ladingo as a strategic move, as the tech company is positioned to lead a global consumer revolution by enabling personal importation of large and bulky items to shoppers purchasing from international online-shops. Ladingo’s technological platform offers a transparent digital integration of the entire process.
Today, nearly all B2C e-commerce purchases, estimated at 2.5 trillion dollars annually, are shipped via air freight. The disadvantage of air freight is its weight and size limitations, which prevents items from being shipped at a reasonable cost.
The price obstacle and regulatory requirements limit the variety of products that online shops can sell to international customers. In view of recent dramatic developments in retail logistics, both ZIM and Ladingo sought to provide a technological solution to the complex logistical world of ocean freight. They did so, believing that connecting such a solution to the world of e-commerce would at last enable retailers to sell all their products online, including their large and bulky items, with relatively low shipping costs.
Ladingo, founded in January of 2018 by Hagar Valiano Rips, Ruth Reiner and Guy Levi, is the world’s first company to offer a comprehensive solution to online shops selling large and bulky items such as furniture, bicycles, fitness equipment, garden equipment, electronics and more – directly from overseas retailers or manufacturers to the shoppers’ door. In implementing its container-sharing solution for end shoppers, Ladingo can dramatically reduce shipping costs. Shoppers can now buy any size product online from any location in the world, just as easily as they’d buy an iPhone cover from Ali Express.
About Ladingo
Ladingo enables e-commerce stores to sell large and heavy products to end-users across the ocean at attractive prices, thanks to technology founded upon the principles of container sharing among end-users, and the digitization & automation of the fulfillment process.
Ladingo is currently piloting with several customers in the United States.
Ladingo was selected by CIO Review among top 20 most promising retail solution providers - 2019 and won 1st place in the 2018 Retail Disrupt competition. Ladingo will be exhibiting an Shoptalk 2019 in the beginning of March 2019.