Forwarding veteran Michael Schaecher joins Freightos board

Freightos has appointed veteran forwarder Michael Schaecher to its board, effective this week.

Mr Schaecher is well-known in the business, with a history including roles at Panalpina (as an SVP), DHL Global Forwarding (EVP), Ceva Logistics (COO) and ISS Global Forwarding (CEO). He now runs mSc Avia Consulting.

Freightos said this “strategic” appointment would expand the board’s “depth of expertise in air and ocean freight forwarding”.

“Michael’s experience in freight forwarding and logistics technology aligns with our mission to digitise international shipping,” said Zvi Schreiber, CEO of Freightos. “His expertise and vision will help us shape the future of freight for the industry at large and for our thousands of freight forwarder customers, carriers, and enterprise shippers that use our air and ocean pricing and booking solutions.”

Mr Schaecher added: “Freightos stands at an exciting inflection point of connectivity between carriers, forwarders and shippers.

“I look forward to working with the board and leadership team to advance its vision, scale innovation, and deliver lasting value to customers, partners, and shareholders.”

Ahead of announcing its Q3 results next month, Freightos said its KPIs had “exceeded expectations”. It saw 27% growth in transactions, year on year in Q3, while gross booking value hit £336m, up 54% on a year earlier. It said its active carrier count had risen to 77, with unique buyer users now more than 20,600.

The question for Freightos now is whether that growth will lead to profits – and if so, when.

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