Starboard

Market position

Positioned as an AI-first alternative to the spreadsheet-, portal- and email-based quoting workflows still common among freight forwarders, and as a challenger to conventional logistics platforms through its reliance on AI agents rather than manual data entry. Investors and the company frame the opportunity as digitizing SMB freight forwarding, which represents a large share of global trade and logistics spend.

Combines automated RFQ reading and quote generation with a unified, searchable rate repository, removing the need to toggle between carrier portals, spreadsheets and email threads. The company cites customer-reported gains of up to 60% less manual work, up to 10% margin rate improvement, quotes in as little as 30 seconds, and operating expense reductions of up to 50%. Its team is described as combining freight industry experience with technical backgrounds from Flexport, Maersk, Google and LinkedIn.

Technology

AI and machine learning applied to freight documents and pricing data: extraction of cargo and routing details from RFQ emails, PDFs and spreadsheets; automated rate matching against contract, spot and live carrier pricing; margin application and quote generation across more than 100 parameters; and AI agents ("bots") that process shipments in real time, reconcile invoices, generate documents, handle regulatory filings and chase vendors and payments. The platform draws on real-time data feeds reported as more than 75 shipping lines and more than 300 airlines, and integrates with major ocean carriers and 100+ airlines.

Go-to-market

Direct sales motion built around booking product demos configured to a prospect's routes, carriers and margins, supported by customer testimonials from forwarder pricing executives and by press coverage of its funding and product launches.

Small and mid-sized freight forwarders and their pricing and operations teams, particularly SMB forwarders that the company frames as the backbone of more than $20 trillion in global trade and $1 trillion in logistics spend. Named users include UWL and CMC Logistics.

Geography

Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, where it is expanding its engineering team; customers are freight forwarders across North America, with carrier coverage spanning major ocean lines and global airlines.

History

Starboard launched its AI-powered shipping logistics platform in 2023 and was backed early by Garuda Ventures, whose general partner said the firm partnered with the team in 2024 as the company got started. Subsequent milestones include the release of the Starboard Control Tower for shipment operations and a real-time AI quoting tool, followed by a $5.5 million seed round announced on December 17, 2024, led by Eclipse with participation from Garuda Ventures and Everywhere Ventures, earmarked for engineering hiring in Toronto and product development.

Risks & controversies

Performance claims such as up to 60% less manual work, up to 10% margin improvement and up to 50% lower operating expenses are company-reported rather than independently verified, and the $2 million ARR figure was a stated plan rather than an achieved result.