Freight Lufthansa Cargo invests in Start-Up cargo.one

With the acquisition, Lufthansa Cargo is strategically expanding its digital innovation portfolio. Previously, the cargo company has been an early adopter of cargo.one and has now become a minority investor.

Cargo.com was initially founded in 2017 by three German entrepreneurs. The company provides a platform for marketing and booking air cargo capacity. Cargo.com offers dynamic spot rates and enables their booking, becoming the first platform of its kind.

Peter Gerber, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Cargo said: “Cargo.one is another important step towards the digitisation of our industry. We are pleased to have been one of the first airlines to recognise the potential of this multi-airline platform for our customers and to have made ourselves compatible [...] Our customers’ overall experience is now strongly improved by being able to more efficiently book air cargo capacity.”

Moritz Claussen, cargo.one founder added: “Air cargo capacity worldwide can be made available online through our innovative distribution technology. Accordingly, we want to grow to become a global leader. The minority investment by Lufthansa Cargo now also demonstrates that even a star player in the industry is impressed with our technology.”

This year, Lufthansa Cargo already invested in technology Start-Up Fleet Logistics, which is based in Portland, United States. The company acts as an online marketplace. February 2018 saw Lufthansa Cargo partner with the world´s largest technology accelerator Plug and Play. The company brings together established companies and Start-Ups.

In the aviation industry, this connection is of particular importance, as the digitization isn´t often practised by established airlines. Rather, these airlines are likely to acquire interests in Start-Ups like cargo.one and such.

“The close cooperation between Lufthansa Cargo and technology Start-Ups melds comprehensive air cargo experience with a technology-driven, fresh view of global logistics processes”, concluded Boris Hueske, Head of Digital Transformation at Lufthansa Cargo.

Lufthansa Cargo is the freight subsidiary of Germany´s largest airline Lufthansa. The cargo operator serves worldwide destinations with a fleet of 12 McDonnell Douglas MD-11Fs and five Boeing 777Fs. Lufthansa Cargo is headquartered at Frankfurt Airport, Germany.