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Yokohama-based Willbox, the Japanese startup behind the Giho digital logistics platform, has secured about 700 million yen USD 4.7 million in a series A round.
FREMONT, CA: Willbox, a Japanese firm with offices in Yokohama and the Giho digital logistics platform, had raised USD 4.7 million in a series A round of funding. Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Marubeni Ventures, Anobaka, Salesforce Ventures, Golden Asia Fund III, and Mizuho Capital are also investing in this round, which SMBC Venture Capital is leading. The Industrial Technology Investment Corporation (ITIC), the investment arm of Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute, and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, a Japanese company, jointly own Golden Asia Fund (ITRI).
After the pre-series, A round of funding for the logistics firm was disclosed in May. Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and Marubeni Ventures also participated in that round, which SMBC Venture Capital led. Anobaka took part in both the seed and pre-series A rounds. The company will use the money to improve operations in Japan and Taiwan as well as to speed up the development of its services to increase its clientele.
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Motonari Kami founded Willbox in 2019. For fifty years, his family has been in charge of Koei, a business in Kawasaki that manages large-size packaging and logistics for heavy and precise machinery. Before placing huge cargoes of heavy and precise gear in containers, international logistics require that they be packed in wooden boxes. These crates are manufactured specifically for each shipment, taking into account the shape and size of the cargo, by skilled artisans. For this reason, unlike small cargo, it is impossible to select a carrier or estimate shipping costs for international logistics immediately.
Willbox focuses on the FCL (Full Container Load) market, principally for exports. There are 120 registered logistics companies with Giho, 20 per cent of which are packing firms like Koei, while the remainder is forwarders, shipping operators, and land transportation firms to ports. Over 50 per cent of the time that logistics companies spend on quotation preparation ends up being a waste due to lost orders. Willbox claims that, based on data gathered from logistics firms, the platform enables shippers to obtain estimates within 10 seconds of data entry.
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