European start-ups secure over EUR160 million of investment capital

Following on from the popularity of start-ups in the Europe-wide fintech sector, investors now seem to have spotted significant potential in supply chain management. Over the past couple of years, 53 European logistics-related start-ups have secured over EUR160 million worth of venture capital between them, according to research by Supply Chain Media, publisher of the Dutch trade journal Supply Chain Magazine and the quarterly pan-European magazine Supply Chain Movement.

Supply Chain Media surveyed and researched 53 start-ups, all founded in Europe in or since 2012, and positioned them in a matrix containing ten categories of logistics solutions ranging from supplier management right through to home delivery. The Maturity Matrix makes it easy for companies in the supply chain, manufacturing companies, wholesalers, retailers and logistics service providers to see which new startups could be interesting for them.

Both the study and the matrix are an idea of Martijn Lofvers, founder of Supply Chain Media, who organized a session in Amsterdam in December 2017 for a group of supply chain executives from multinationals during which three start-ups pitched their business propositions. “Each of the supply chain executives received EUR250,000 worth of casino chips to invest in the new companies; they were impressed by the startups’ presentations and very enthusiastic about this approach,” comments Lofvers. “They also asked me how many supply chain startups there are. That question triggered a lot of research over the past six months, the results of which can be found in our European Supply Chain Maturity Matrix.”

The Maturity Matrix

The vertical axis of the matrix shows the degree of maturity, subdivided into start-ups and scale-ups (companies that have secured more than EUR2 million in capital). A company’s maturity is based on its age, number of employees, awards won, number of customers, and capital raised. The horizontal axis shows the various solution categories and the units for which the start-ups offer solutions. The start-ups are positioned based on their original solutions and may now offer services in multiple categories.

European startup contest during inNOWvate event

On 24 May, Supply Chain Media is holding a new event revolving around innovation: inNOWvate Supply Chain. Five startups and five scale-ups from across Europe, all with interesting and innovative supply chain solutions, have been selected from the Maturity Matrix and will be presenting themselves during the one-day event at the Rijtuigenloods venue in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. The most innovative startup will be chosen based on a combination of the judging panel’s verdict and delegates’ votes. The winner will receive EUR40,000 worth of marketing budget to spend with Supply Chain Media.