Logistics technology company Freightos has expanded its online freight marketplace to the UK, ahead of Brexit.

Since its US launch in 2016, the Freightos marketplace has provided instant freight comparison, booking and management of freight services for thousands of US importers and exporters of all sizes.

The UK has been selected as the first new market for expanding Freightos’ vision of more affordable and transparent logistics.

“The UK is one of the world’s largest import and export markets and a leader in European trade,” founder and CEO of Freightos, Zvi Schreiber, tells GTR.

“Of course, as global trade is increasingly intertwined and agile, with importers using more suppliers in more countries, the utility of Freightos in light of Brexit is hard to miss. While prices to access global markets may be impacted by Brexit, real-time, transparent and instant global freight pricing will become even more important for cost-sensitive retailers or manufacturers.”

Freightos argues that while the freight industry is massive, its technology is stuck in the 1970s and that inaccessible information, lack of transparency and offline communications result in companies wasting days on freight quoting and overpaying on shipping by as much as 40%.

Freightos technology aims to change this by using pricing and routing algorithms to bring more affordable freight to businesses and making global trade as seamless as booking flights online.

“Our team’s been pursuing frictionless global trade for years and we’ve now reached the tipping point. By expanding to the UK, we’re making global freight easier for UK retailers, importers, manufacturers, and exporters,” says Schreiber.

Freightos, incorporated in Hong Kong, provides instant freight quotes internally for international freight forwarders including CEVA Logistics, Nippon Express and Hellmann World Logistics. The technology also offers freight rate management and pricing and routing optimisation for supply chain companies including Sysco Foods, Panasonic and Marks and Spencers.