Nabu

Nabu develops a platform that automates customs formalities for freight forwarders, customs brokers, importers and international trade companies. The system receives clearance requests and data from an operator's inbox, transport management system or other business tools in any format, aggregates information from attachments, email content and prior files, fills gaps via connected sources or direct requests, runs compliance checks, and produces pre-filled declarations inside the customer's existing customs software. Connectivity options include API, EDI, SFTP and email, and the platform processes emails, PDFs, Excel files, databases and TMS records.

The company positions the product as handling the preparation stage rather than the regulatory decision: the declarant retains final responsibility, while Nabu removes manual data entry. Full automation of a file is possible depending on the quality of available data. The platform includes control mechanisms and confidence indicators to direct operator attention toward at-risk files, addressing common issues such as discrepancies between documents (quantities, amounts, weights) and customs classification errors that can expose importers to reassessment or penalties. Management states that generative AI is deliberately excluded from sensitive regulatory control functions to avoid fabricated data. Nabu describes itself as a unified, multi-country system that adapts to local regulations, and plans to extend coverage beyond customs declarations to the wider set of formalities involved in moving goods across borders.

Founding story

Nabu was founded by Arnaud Doly, who serves as CEO. The company targets customs processing that, in his description, remains largely manual, with teams receiving emails all day, checking documents and re-keying information.

Business model

Nabu sells to businesses handling customs formalities. Pricing is based primarily on a per-formality fee with volume-based degressive rates, complemented in some cases by a SaaS arrangement for large accounts. The company has said it is exploring pricing models tied more closely to the actual complexity of the files processed.

Per-formality billing with degressive tariffs by volume, supplemented by SaaS contracts for large accounts.

Traction

As of April 2026 the company reported approximately fifteen customers, principally in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, with deployments in progress in Germany and the UK. Across a sample of 10,602 formalities analysed in 2025, Nabu estimated an average time saving of 74.6%, exceeding 90% on the most complex files. Customers range from independent customs brokers to large international transport groups.

Latest developments

In April–May 2026 Nabu announced a €3 million raise with participation from Getlink, operator of the Channel Tunnel, alongside existing investor Maersk Growth. Proceeds are earmarked for deepening presence in existing European markets, entering new ones, and further product development covering automation, performance and user experience, with a roadmap extending the platform beyond customs declarations to other cross-border formalities.