20 Things You Didn’t know about Nuvocargo
Since the conceptualization and integration of the internet into every aspect, tasks that were considered either impossible or extremely onerous have become a lot easier to carry out. The quintessence of this can be seen with the movement of goods and services between borders. Cross-border movement is taking over the world, and thus geographical restrictions do not pose as much a hindrance as they used to back in the day. Over the last couple of years, there has been an influx in the number of startups that deal with the cross-border movement of goods and services. Of these startups, none has been as effective and efficient in providing the said services as Nuvocargo. With the main headquarters in New York and another head office in Miguel Hidalgo, the company has been able, through a myriad of processes, to stake a claim on a large portion of the market share both in the United States and in Mexico.Though a bit nascent, its steady rise has warranted some research into its operations. The raison d’etre of this article is to make sure that you understand what the company is all about, so here are 20 things that you did not know about Nuvocargo.
1. A bit of history
The company was founded in March of 2019 by Sam Blackman and Deepack Chhugani, according to Crunch Base. Its aim at the tie was freight services, but it continued to expand slowly and slowly into software, logistics, chain management, and transportation. Right now, it is the only platform where you can get everything to do with cross-border trade. It can offer cargo movement by integrating powerful technology into a platform that has an exceptional and experienced team of experts.
2. Movement of goods
Nuvocargo’s objective, both in the short term and the long term, is to ensure that they provide effective and efficient movement between borders, according to QED Investors. The said movement is mainly based between the United States of America and Mexico. The company aims at expanding later on, and it does seem like ‘later on’ is not going to be far away.
3. What they provide
The company provides an all-in-one digital platform as the means to this end. With sufficient backing, as we will see later on, they have been able to build a loyal clientele, and with each passing day, it looks like it will only continue to grow.
4. Freight brokerage and forwarding
Nuvocargo is an FMCSA licensed freight forwarder and property broker in all the countries that it is based in, namely Canada, the USA, and Mexico. This ensures and guarantees the customers faster and simpler freight movement all around North America. The company offers top-tier door-to-door services when it comes to exports and imports, in both directions with regards to the country you are in. this is done, according to the company, through competitive pricing, setting up a reliable, effective, and efficient network of carriers, and using a dedicated team of bilingual experts.
5. They offer proactive updates in the movement of goods
Additionally, through the world-class software that they have in place, they are able to provide their clients with unparalleled visibility with regards to their shipment routs, as well as issue status updates, via either text, email, or WhatsApp, proactively, according to Nuvocargo. The platform also provides the central medium through which you can access all your paperwork and documents. It is also through the platform that you will be able to access reports that try to optimize your supply, as well as all the business insights that you will need.The company is solely focused on trucking as the mode of transport, but later on, according to the objectives that they have put in place, the company will look to expand to other modes of transport.
6. They offer customs brokerage
Nuvocargo is a licensed customs broker via the CBP US. Thus, they can help their clientele import goods from any port. The world of customs is very capricious, but not to worry. Nuvocargo will help you by keeping you up to date with all the fast-changing regulations when it comes to customs. If you already have a customs broker in any of the three countries, the company is more than happy to liaise with them to ensure that there is as minimum friction as possible and that your goods can move freely.
7. Cargo insurance
When moving goods and products across the country, you will be putting in a lot of money. In the event that the said products get into an accident and are damaged or disappear, you are liable to lose a lot of money and investment. For this reason, it is more than necessary to ensure that you have insured your cargo. There is a plethora of insurance companies and insurance packages all over the country, but Nuvocargo has, without a doubt, some of the best packages out there right now. The company has invested a lot of capital into their insurance sector and thus is more than willing to make sure that your valuable cargo is safe and sound.
8. Their insurance packages
It provides some of the best and most comprehensive insurance packages in the three countries. Ergo, in the event that the carriers have an accident or become insolvent, then you will be able to ensure your cargo is up to 100,000 dollars in Mexico, which is very rare. Additionally, you will be able to insure up to 250,000 dollars in Canada and the United States.That is not the end of it. The company helps its clientele get shippers’ interest cross-border cargo insurance. Done in per-load terms, it has a fixed price, 0.5 percent of the value.
9. It offers chain supply-financing
Nuvocargo can offer a myriad of financial options that will be able to help you grow your business. They offer export and import factoring and financing. This means that the company helps its clientele, those who are selling to United States customers, are SMB and have long payment terms, get financing against receivables in both the Mexican pesos and the United States dollar.
10. It offers carrier quick pay
They also offer carrier quick pay. This is applicable to customers that pay a net of between 30 and 60, or even over. The company can help such customers by making sure that they get paid the day, and sometimes even the week, after delivery of the competitive discount, both in Mexican pesos and the United States dollar. Additionally, the company also offers inventory loans. This is very effective if the client wants capital but is still waiting for the customers to pay after the products have been delivered. These types of loans make sure that the client can run the business with calm and peace of mind since they have adequate capital at all times.
11. Funding
Some funders are ubiquitous to all the successful startups in the past ten years. The said funders are also present in the development of Nuvocargo, and thus it should come as no surprise, then, that the company has been having a lot of success. Some of the companies that have helped Nuvocargo with funding include Tiger Global Management, NFX, QED Investors, Y Combinator, Nubank, Rappi, and Deel, according to LinkedIn. The fact that these companies have decided to be investors, and actively endeavor to make sure that the company continues to grow, is a testament to how driven the entire company is.
12. QED is in all the way
QED investors, for example, recognized the potency and promise of the company, as they were able to bring the offline traditionally disjointed supply chains offline. This, of course, was a source of huge opportunity. In many ways, according to QED, the company took something that was not possible less than five years ago and not only made it essential but also critical today.
13. Their investor pitch
Nuvocargo endeavor, and its sales pitch to its investors, is to make sure that it has built, in the shortest time possible, a platform that makes it easier and automates the logistics that are needed when moving goods across the border. It also for the first time, offer the best financial solutions to a field and market that has over the years been massively ignored.
14. They endeavor to boost trade
In December of 2021, the company announced that through Tiger Global Management, it had been able to raise over 20.5 million dollars in funding, according to Freight Waves. This statement was released by Deepak Chhugani, the Chief Operational Officer of the company. He also added that the money was not needed at the time but was still welcome, as they still had some of the 12 million dollars they had raised earlier that year, in April.
15. Why Tiger are in on it
Tiger were the ones who showed a real conviction in making sure that Nuvorcargo had the necessary capital to ensure that they continued growing. This is because supply chains the world over are under immense pressure to build startups and thus improve cross-border trade, something that Nuvocargo endeavors to do every day.
16. They are planning to increase their presence in Latin America
Nuvocargo views Latin America as the next big thing when it comes to the production and distribution of goods from one country to the other. Thus, it should be no surprise that they are ramping up operations and logistics in Latin America. John Curtius, a partner in Tiger Global Management, said that they are looking to back future industry leaders in both America and Latin America. They view Nuvocargo as a stone to kill two birds, as they expect the company to be the first in both areas.
17. Increase in value
Since the company was launched in 2019, and as of December 2021, it has raised slightly north of 38 million United States dollars. The company has been able to use the said funds, as mentioned earlier, to expand its already extensive and intensive list of solutions concerning cross-border trade. This it has been able to do very well. In a span of eight months, the company was able to grow from a valuation of 70 million dollars to more than double that, around 180 million dollars. It is, in many ways, putting a foothold on the market and slowly but surely staking a claim as the industry leader when it comes to online cross-border solutions.
18. Number of employees and composition
As of December 2021, the company currently has 80 employees. Most of them are based in the company’s headquarters in New York. Its executive team is made up of four members. Deepak Chhugani, as mentioned earlier, is the Chief Operation Officer of the company and is also a co-founder. Sam Blackman is the Chief Technological Officer, and he, too, is a co-founder. Luis Torres is the Head of Finance and Business Operations. Ismail Mechbal is the co-founder and full-stack developer of the company.
19. About the CEO
Deepak Chhugani is the CEO and founder of the company. He was born in Kenya but grew up in Ecuador, and both of his parents are Indian. Then, it is no surprise that he has a huge connection with Latin America and thus is passionate about the intersection between Latin America and the United States of America.
20. His experience
Before he held these positions, though, he spent time in M and A at BofA Merrill Lynch. Moreover, he gained a load of experience in GP regarding real estate, more specifically private real estate. Here, he was tasked with raising capital to be able to finance the project of buying multi-family houses and properties in the southeastern part of the United States, according to Work at a Startup. In 2018, he joined Y Combinator with a crazy idea, at the time known as thelobby.io. In the 6 months he spent there, the idea had a crazy pivot and grew to be something beautiful.
