Dive Brief:
- Transfix has sold its digital brokerage to NFI and is shifting its focus to sell software and data products. Fiscal terms were not disclosed.
- Furthermore, NFI will be the anchor customer of Transfix and first third-party customer of the firm’s new software-as-a-service approach.
- “Finding a home for our brokerage gave us an incredible opportunity to open up all the innovation we’ve created and offer it in a more meaningful way to our freight brokerage peers,” Transfix co-founder and CEO Jonathan Salama said on a blog post Wednesday.
Dive Insight:
Transfix launched in 2013 and started processing loads even before its digital infrastructure was in place, co-founder and board chairman Drew McElroy once noted on a logistics podcast.
The company has sought to help fleets eliminate downtime. Having geographic-based intel in real time of trucks and loads gave the platform the ability to match needs, minimizing dwell and maximizing utilization, McElroy said.
That network diminished as carriers have struggled recently to stay in the market. Competition has also come from digital players such as Uber Freight as well as carriers including J.B. Hunt Transport Services. Flexport also relaunched Convoy’s load board earlier this year after the latter shuttered last year.
Transfix’s digital products will continue to serve carriers and shippers. NFI will use the company’s transportation management system.
“We believe the Transfix TMS will be a game changer for us,” Dave Broering, president of Integrated Logistics Solutions at NFI, said in a news release.
Startup consulting firm Izba founder Aaron Alpeter wrote on LinkedIn, praising the move and saying, “It's hard to try to sell your software when your customers see you as a competitor.”
McElroy appreciates NFI’s commitment to retaining many Transfix personnel while advancing the industry with its technology, he said in the release.
“Opening up our decade of technological advancements to brokers industry-wide is set to create substantial value for brokers everywhere,” McElroy said.
