Emerge Raises $20M Seed Round

Emerge, the creators of the Private Freight Marketplace (PFM) – a platform for connecting shippers and carriers, announced today that they have raised $20 million dollars in a seed round. Greycroft, a leading New York and Los Angeles based venture capital firm led the round with participation from other existing investors.

The firm was founded in the beginning of 2018 by industry veteran brothers, Andrew and Michael Leto. The brothers grew up spending their summers helping their father run his air freight business. This experience would later lead them to build Globaltranz, a software-driven third-party logistics company designed to help shippers better manage their freight. Globaltranz was acquired earlier this year by private equity firm The Jordan Company for over $400 million.

CEO Michael Leto explains that "building one of the largest 3PLs in the country, offering Less-Than-Truckload and Full-Truckload brokerage services has given us the insight to eliminate the real inefficiencies our customers experience – ultimately the platform reduces costs and positively impacts the bottom line."

Emerge's goal is to accelerate productivity, provide true real-time visibility and offer access to all available capacity when companies move product across the country. Their platform includes quote management, real-time tracking, real-time chat, analytics, history, and automated lane/repeat shipment creation.

"Technology advancements are catalyzing all sorts of changes to how the trucking industry moves freight" said Will Szczerbiak, Principal at Greycroft Partners. "We have looked at a bunch of other vendors and Emerge stands in a class of its own when it comes to creating a more delightful and efficient freight booking experience for shippers, carriers, and brokers alike. It is a real platform. Andrew and Michael are true veterans in this space and are the only ones with the relationships and know how to be able to build what they've built."

"Even as Globaltranz grew into a massive success, I always knew there was a need for a Private Freight Marketplace." comments Andrew Leto. "And we have the best team in the industry growing this platform."

The Leto brother have bolstered the executive team and board with industry experts alike including Vice Chairman Jack Holmes retired CEO of UPS Freight, and Chief Commercial Officer Grant Crawford, former Fedex executive with nearly three decades of experience in domestic and international freight markets.

Jack shares in the excitement of joining the team commenting "After being engaged in this space for decades, Emerge is the most exciting approach to solving problems for shippers and carriers alike that I've ever seen. I've known and respected the Letos for years. Their knack for understanding what customers need and their ability to address it with user-friendly technology was a huge draw for me to come aboard. Grant Crawford from FedEx coming on only further validates how compelling this solution really is."

"The industry, traditionally archaic, is being forced to become more efficient", adds Grant, "Emerge helps turn over every rock to find capacity."

About Emerge

Emerge is an award-winning freight management platform providing a Private Freight Marketplace (PFM) and TMS designed to accelerate productivity and increase visibility. Combining quoting and tendering, carrier management, real-time tracking, data driven analytics, streamlined customer billing and the ability to network and connect with new partners, Emerge increases operational savings and efficiencies throughout the entire organization. The cloud-based platform can be implemented in minutes with zero downloads or installs required. For more information please visit EmergeTMS.com

About Greycroft

Greycroft is a leading venture capital firm focused on investments in the Internet and mobile markets. With offices in the two media capitals of the world – New York and Los Angeles – Greycroft is uniquely positioned to serve entrepreneurs who have chosen us as their partners. Greycroft leverages an extensive network of media and technology industry connections to help entrepreneurs gain visibility, build strategic relationships, bring their products to market, and build successful businesses. Greycroft manages in excess of $1 billion and has made over 150 investments since inception in leading companies including Acorns, App Annie, Boxed, Braintree, Buddy Media, Everything But The House, Extreme Reach, Huffington Post, Icertis, JW Player, Maker Studios, Plated, Scopely, Shipt, TheRealReal, Thrive Market, Trunk Club, Venmo, WideOrbit, and Yeahka.