Jun 25, 2021 · 21m · top-founders
Freightos Grows GMV 800%, Exits COVID Stronger Than Ever
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this interview with Nathan Latka, Freightos founder and CEO Zvi Schreiber explains how the company leveraged supply chain volatility, strategic SaaS tooling, and its WebCargo platform to scale gross marketplace transaction volume toward $200 million.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 29.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
When Latka repeatedly pushes to find out if Freightos raised unannounced capital or venture debt, Schreiber stonewalls by stating that if he chose not to announce it, he will not answer.
Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 15:45 Latka drills into potential funding gaps and debt financingLatka refuses to let the funding timeline slide, highlighting that VC-backed companies usually announce rounds every two years and explicitly asking if alternative debt structures were used.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 7:46 Schreiber corrects Latka on rate trends and supply bottlenecksSchreiber corrects Latka's dismissal of early COVID rate increases as just a blip, giving a detailed breakdown of container shortages, the Suez Canal blockage, and the Yantian port shutdown.
Nathan holds their own ▶ 9:45 Latka frames the FBX rate spike as an inflation leading indicatorLatka proactively connects the shipping rate data to macroeconomic inflation and consumer purchasing power, prompting Schreiber to validate and elaborate on the exact mechanism.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Nathan as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Nathan pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How Freightos and WebCargo Digitize Freight | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Latka sets up the conversation by asking for a concrete customer journey. Schreiber explains the two-sided marketplace dynamics and the acquisition of WebCargo without any friction. | |
| Navigating COVID Disruptions and the E-Commerce Surge | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Latka probes the initial COVID downturn and team reductions. Schreiber openly shares head-count changes and the subsequent bounceback driven by e-commerce shipping demand. | |
| The FBX Index and Global Supply Chain Disruption | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | Latka pulls up live pricing data on the FBX index and challenges price movements during early COVID. Schreiber corrects Latka's characterization of the price movement as a mere blip and explains the compounding macro supply chain bottlenecks. | |
| Transaction Volume Growth and Digital Air Cargo Adoption | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | Latka presses Schreiber on how container rate surges impact Freightos revenue and tracks GMV scaling. Schreiber emphasizes that he prioritizes sustainable transaction count expansion over pricing volatility tailwinds. | |
| Evaluating SaaS Subscriptions Versus Marketplace Revenues | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | Latka attempts to model SaaS subscription ARR at a $10M run rate based on past ACV figures. Schreiber pushes back on the pricing assumptions and firmly dismisses the premise, stating that SaaS is merely an enabler and not their target business model. | |
| Freightos' Capitalization and Funding Posture | 7 | 2 | 7 | 7 | Latka aggressively probes Freightos' lack of public fundraising since 2018, questioning whether they took on unannounced venture debt or alternative capital. Schreiber flatly stonewalls and refuses to answer multiple direct questions about his capitalization. | |
| Famous Five Quickfire Questions | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Latka guides Schreiber through the standard rapid-fire questions, with brief and direct answers from the guest. |