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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to invest in digital supply chain firm Beacon

Date: June 01, 2020 Nandita Bhardwaj Nandita Bhardwaj
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to invest in digital supply chain firm Beacon 
The startup will use raised funds to adopt new technologies, hire employees and expand its business reach.



Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recently took part in a Series A funding round worth $15 million for U.K.-based digital freight forwarding and supply chain finance startup Beacon. Credible sources cite that freight forwarding is on the cusp of becoming a trillion dollar industry, and Beacon aims on becoming a booking agent between exporters and importers while facilitating trade logistics and finance.



Founded in 2018, Beacon was led by two of Uber Technologies Inc.’s former executives, and is already backed by Uber founders Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick, along with Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google. The firm’s Chief Technology Officer, Pierre Martin, was once the Head of Software Engineering of Amazon’s package and freight transport technology. 



Beacon has made its name as a prominent supply chain finance firm that offers real-time data of cargo delivery and a marketplace view of worldwide shipping prices and costs.



According to Beacon CEO, Fraser Robinson, digitalization is exponentially increasing worldwide ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. With this, their firm believes that the future of the traditional freight forwarder is more promising than ever.



The company, whose services include global ocean, truck and air freight, claims that these raised funds will be directed towards adopting new technologies, employing new hires, expanding market presence.



Sources meanwhile suggest that the funding from Jeff Bezos, who has made prior investments in numerous startups, would also act as a major boost for Beacon’s vision of become a global leader in trade finance and logistics. 



For the record, Jeff Bezos owns a 12% stake in Amazon, and despite being a global e-commerce & cloud software giant, is in race to win the title of the world’s most highly-valued public firms against technology behemoths like Microsoft, Apple, and Google parent Alphabet, Inc.



Source Credit: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/31/report-amazons-jeff-bezos-buying-stake-in-uk-digital-startup-beacon.html

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Nandita Bhardwaj

Nandita holds a management degree with specialization in marketing, and boasts of a short-term experience in the field of recruitment. Following her passion for writing however, she decided to pursue a career in the field of content development. Presently, Nandita pens down news pieces for newsorigins.com, spanning the verticals of business, finance, and technology.