Online freight firm Freightos raises $25 million in funding led by GE

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Freightos, an online marketplace for international shipping, said on Wednesday it raised $25 million in funding led by GE Ventures, bringing the company's total funding to date to $50 million.

"This capital raise will help to continue Freightos’ rapid expansion," said Zvi Schreiber, founder and chief executive of Freightos, which has headquarters in Jerusalem and an R&D center in Ramallah.

Launched in July, the Freightos Marketplace had a doubling in orders in the first quarter of 2017 over the previous quarter. It has over 10,000 registered users.

The Freightos Marketplace enables freight companies to sell services online and import/export companies to compare, book, and manage shipments. Freightos digitizes freight operations for companies such as Nippon Express, CEVA Logistics, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics and Sysco Foods.

In August, Freightos acquired WebCargoNet, a Barcelona-based provider of air cargo rate management and eBookings.

Investors in Freightos include Sadara Ventures, a venture capital fund targeting the Palestinian high-tech sector, as well as Israel's Aleph VC, Michigan-based Annox Capital and MSR Capital of Malaysia.

(Reporting by Tova Cohen)