Bahn Express

Bahn Express (legal entity OY Bahn Express AB) is a Helsinki-based automotive logistics company that arranges transport of individual vehicles between dealerships, wholesalers, auctions, leasing companies, rental fleets and private addresses in Europe. Rather than consolidating cars onto trucks that wait to fill up, the company dispatches independent drivers who move one car directly from pickup to delivery, and also uses truck transport where relevant. Services include branch-to-branch stock transfers, domestic purchases, cross-border imports, home deliveries to remote buyers, pickups from private sellers with an on-site inspection and test drive before the car moves, and leasing/rental fleet moves including end-of-lease returns.

Customers order through a web portal, an API integration with their own systems, email or an Excel file, and see a fixed price and delivery estimate before booking. Each order is assigned to a named person at the company, and the platform provides live status updates, pickup and delivery photographs, and signed CMR/waybill records; the company states it handles CMR and VAT paperwork, including physical stamped originals when a seller requires them. Vehicles are covered up to €100,000 during cross-border transport; for domestic Finnish moves the car must be registered and insured by the customer, with Bahn Express covering damage up to €5,000 and offering transit plates and its own insurance for an additional fee. Transit plates and insurance are offered for unregistered cars.

The company operates domestic moves within Finland, Denmark and Germany and cross-border routes into the Nordics from across Europe, and tailors its service mix by market — mainly rental and leasing work in Poland and Germany, and import of new and used cars for dealerships in Denmark and Finland.

Founding story

Bahn Express was founded in early 2024 in Helsinki by Matias Blomberg (CEO) and Leevi Jäkälä to address delays in European used-car logistics, where waiting for trucks to fill and multi-hub routing could leave up to 40 days between ordering a car and having it on the road while depreciation and tied-up capital cost dealerships an estimated €50-100 per car per day.

Business model

Bahn Express sells per-vehicle transport as a service to automotive businesses at a price fixed and confirmed at the time of booking, with no auctions, bidding or later surcharges. It does not own the delivery capacity: transport is executed by a network of independent freelance drivers who each move a single car, coordinated and documented through the company's own platform, with ancillary services such as quality inspections, transit plates and insurance, and CMR/VAT paperwork handling.

Revenue comes from fees charged to business customers for each vehicle transfer at a fixed price quoted up front, plus optional add-ons such as transit plates with insurance for domestic moves. The company reported growing from zero revenue to more than €150k in monthly turnover during its first year.

Traction

Within roughly a year of founding the company reported over 1,500 completed deliveries, more than 300 qualified drivers and monthly turnover above €150k, with partnerships covering Finland's largest used-car dealerships accounting for more than 70% of imported vehicles. Later figures cite a network of over 500 independent drivers across Europe, more than 100 dealership customers and over 15,000 yearly deliveries, and 30 employees. Named partners include Kamux, Autohuset Vestergaard and Aampere. The company states it aims to cut per-vehicle costs by hundreds of euros and improve dealership stock turnover by 30%.

Latest developments

In December 2025 Bahn Express announced the completion of a €5M funding round led by Swedish fund node.vc with existing investors Trind VC and Innovestor and angel investors including Wolt CPO Vincent Ho-Tin-Noe and founders of Swappie and Smartly. Proceeds are earmarked for establishing local teams in Germany, Denmark and Poland, further EU market entries including Sweden, and hiring at the Helsinki headquarters. The company's stated long-term goal is two-day vehicle delivery to any person anywhere.