Sennder

Overview

Sennder is a Berlin-based digital road freight forwarder. It connects shippers that need to move goods by truck with a network of carriers through its own software, and it handles planning, tendering, tracking and settlement on the platform. According to sennder.com, the company was founded in 2015 by David Nothacker, Julius Koehler and Nicolaus Schefenacker and registered in Berlin in mid-2015. Nothacker is CEO and co-founder.

What began as a parcel-delivery idea became a full-truckload business in 2016 and grew through partnerships, funding rounds and a series of acquisitions into one of Europe's largest digital freight players. In February 2025 sennder announced the closing of its acquisition of the European surface transportation business of C.H. Robinson, creating, in the company's words, a European tech logistics powerhouse.

Why this entity matters

Road freight in Europe is a large, fragmented market in which many small carriers and brokers coordinate by phone and email. Sennder matters because it is a leading attempt to bring software, data and scale to that market from Germany, and because it has used acquisitions to build volume quickly. Its funding history, with Series A in 2018, Series B and C in 2019 and a Series D of 160 million dollars in January 2021, followed by an extension of 80 million dollars led by Baillie Gifford in June 2021 that pushed the valuation above 1 billion dollars (FreightWaves), made it one of the first German logistics unicorns.

The C.H. Robinson transaction is the most significant consolidation step so far. According to the C.H. Robinson announcement, the sale of its European surface transportation business to sennder took effect on 1 February 2025 with all regulatory clearances received and terms undisclosed. A sennder press release dated 3 February 2025 puts the combined business at around 1,600 employees and more than 20 markets, and trade headlines describe combined revenue of about 1.4 billion euros. For DACH shippers and carriers this changes the competitive landscape among forwarders.

Company or institutional background

According to the company history on sennder.com, Sennder was founded in 2015, pivoted to full truckload in 2016, signed a partnership with Scania in 2017, raised a Series A led by HV Capital and Project A in 2018, and followed with a Series B from Accel and a Series C from Lakestar in 2019. In 2020 it merged with the French company Everoad, entered a joint venture with Poste Italiane and acquired the European business of Uber Freight. In 2021 it added Cars&Cargo and in January 2022 KE. Sennder.com also lists the takeover of the Spanish company Innroute, which FreightWaves reported as an acquisition of a Spanish rival.

The company reports that more than 40,000 trucks run on its platform, with access to over 120,000 vehicles, and that the combined business after the 2025 acquisition operates from more than 20 locations across Europe. Its backers named on the company site include Baillie Gifford, Accel, HV Capital and Lakestar, with Poste Italiane and Scania as industry partners.

A December 2022 trade report, relayed in Startuprad.io's monthly news episode, said sennder was raising new funds at a valuation of about 2 billion dollars with around 60 million euros in commitments. Startuprad.io has not independently verified that report.

Role in the ecosystem

Sennder sits in the digital freight forwarding layer, between shippers, such as manufacturers, retailers and logistics providers, and the carriers that own trucks. Rather than owning a large fleet, it intermediates capacity through software and uses data to price, match and track loads, supplemented by control-tower services for large customers. That makes it both a technology company and an operating logistics business with significant working capital and service obligations.

Within the DACH ecosystem, sennder is a flagship of the Berlin logistics tech scene, alongside other freight-tech companies, and its alumni have started their own companies; Startuprad.io's interview with Byways, the startup of a former sennder head of product, is an example. Its Poste Italiane joint venture and its truck-maker partnership with Scania also show how it works with industrial partners.

Selected relationships and affiliations

Publicly reported relationships include the founders David Nothacker, Julius Koehler and Nicolaus Schefenacker; the investors HV Capital, Project A, Accel, Lakestar, Baillie Gifford and Hedosophia; the industry partners Poste Italiane and Scania; the acquired or merged companies Everoad, Uber Freight Europe, Cars&Cargo, KE and Innroute; and C.H. Robinson as the seller of its European surface transportation business. These are listed as reported by the company and trade press and are not a verified cap table. The company names are as published by sennder.com and C.H. Robinson.

Startuprad.io relevance

Startuprad.io has covered sennder as a recurring name in its monthly news roundups and unicorn trackers. The January 2021 episode noted the 160 million dollar Series D, the December 2022 wrap-up reported the valuation talks, and the summer 2024 roundup reported the planned acquisition of C.H. Robinson's European land transport business. The 2025 DACH Unicorn Tracker lists sennder among the logistics and freight-tech companies. A founder interview with Byways, the startup of sennder's former head of product, also mentions the company. Sennder has not itself been an interview guest.

Public source context

This record draws on sennder.com, including its company history and the press release on the closing of the C.H. Robinson transaction, the C.H. Robinson announcement, FreightWaves reporting on the 2021 funding rounds, and Startuprad.io's own coverage. Revenue, headcount and fleet figures are company-reported and combine the sennder and C.H. Robinson businesses in some cases. The 2 billion dollar valuation report from December 2022 is not independently verified.

Startuprad.io coverage

This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups — December 2022 Wrap-Up
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 28 September 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-december-2022-wrap-up

Meet Byways — The Startup of Sennder’s Former Head of Product — And They Have the US in Sight — Founder Interview
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 20 September 2026
Coverage type: Interview
https://www.startuprad.io/post/meet-byways-the-startup-of-sennder-s-former-head-of-product-and-they-have-the-us-in-sight-foun

The Ultimate 2025 DACH Unicorn Startups Tracker by Startuprad.io
Published: 20 June 2025
Last updated: 20 September 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/the-ultimate-2025-guide-to-dach-unicorns-startuprad-io-tracker

🦄 DACH Unicorn Tracker 2025: Trends, Funding, and Opportunities | Startuprad.io
Published: 18 April 2025
Last updated: 20 September 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/dach-unicorn-tracker-2025-trends-funding-and-opportunities-startuprad-io

DACH Startup News Summer 2024: Mid-Year Ecosystem Roundup
Published: 02 September 2024
Last updated: 20 September 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-startups-summer-news-wrap-up-2024-july-and-august

Need deeper entity intelligence?
→ https://www.startuprad.io/become-a-partner

Tracking European freight tech and logistics consolidation? Entrepreneurs Vault members get the deeper operator read on digital forwarder economics, how sennder-style roll-ups integrate acquisitions, and what the C.H. Robinson deal signals for shippers and carriers across DACH.
▶ YouTube Membership: https://www.youtube.com/startupradio/join
✉️ Substack: https://startupradio.substack.com/subscribe

About Startuprad.io

Startuprad.io is a European B2B media, data and intelligence platform. It provides structured entity and ecosystem data, source-backed research, datasets and AI/training-data solutions, as well as strategic visibility and access to a professional European audience of founders, investors, executives and B2B decision-makers.

Organizations use Startuprad.io for intelligence and research, structured data and AI applications, executive and company positioning, and trusted B2B reach across Europe.

Canonical record: https://www.startuprad.io/entities/sennder .