Sennder acquired French competitor Everload in 2020.
(Photo: Sender)
Frankfurt, Berlin According to corporate and financial circles, Sennder is talking to investors about a new capital injection. The new round of funding could see the company’s valuation rise to two billion euros, doubling compared to the previous round in June 2021, when the freight brokerage platform raised $80 million from investors. The young company is thus defying the current difficult situation of start-ups, which generally find it difficult to collect new money and often lose value in financing rounds.
Company boss David Nothacker has already received commitments from existing investors over 60 million euros at the first attempt, as the Handelsblatt learned from several people familiar with the matter. The first part of the financing round, the so-called first closing, was completed a few days ago.
Depending on how many investors find themselves, a little more or a little less than 30 million euros could be added in the next few weeks. The money will flow in the form of a convertible loan. In addition, Sennder is in talks to take on venture capital, it said. The company itself did not comment on this when asked.
According to Nothacker insiders, the fresh money wants to be used for acquisitions, among other things, and take advantage of the lower ratings of rivals. Actually, Sennder is still fully financed for 18 months, it was said in the circles.
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Sennder has grown through acquisitions in the past. In 2020, for example, the Berlin start-up took over the French competitor Everoad and the European freight business of the US transport service provider Uber. In addition, Sennder has entered into a partnership with the logistics company Poste Italiane in Italy.
Strategy creates discussions with investors
The company is aiming for sales of over 600 million euros this year – more than originally planned. Sennder recently announced that the demand for transport capacities remained unbroken despite the economic crisis and the war in Ukraine. So far, the company has invested heavily in growth and is making losses. Currently, the margin (Ebitda) should be in the single-digit negative percentage range.
>> Also read: Financing for German start-ups is collapsing
Sennder’s strategy is currently the subject of discussions with investors. While they mainly focused on high growth rates last year, goals such as returns and cash flow are now in the foreground. According to financial circles, some financiers would prefer to curb investments for the time being. According to Kreise, the company itself hopes to accelerate the pace towards profitability by acquiring already profitable companies. Corresponding talks were already underway, said a person familiar with the process.
Size is crucial in the logistics business, for example in order to use volume advantages, exploit technological advantages and realize connecting journeys. The start-up, founded in 2015, currently provides more than 40,000 trucks across Europe and manages three times as many. Sennder’s existing investors include Volkswagen subsidiary Scania, as well as venture capitalists Lakestar, Accel, Baillie Gifford and Hedosophia.
Former consultants Julius Köhler (right), Nicolaus Schefenacker (left) and David Nothacker (middle) founded Sennder in 2015.
(Photo: Sender)
According to circles, they are said to have already promised new money in the upcoming round of financing. A well-known new investor has also been attracted, one of the insiders said. Sennder’s goal is to raise a total of 85 million euros in the financing round. Depending on demand, an amount of more than 100 million is also possible.
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According to the districts, the convertible loan has an interest rate of more than seven percent and a conversion discount of 25 percent. This means that the subscribers to the paper, in the event of conversion in a later round of financing, will receive new Sennder shares at a quarter of the price that is then agreed. In the currently difficult capital market environment, convertible loans are an alternative to pure equity rounds.
Many venture capitalists are cautious at the moment and, in view of the turnaround in interest rates, the war in Ukraine and concerns about the global economy, are holding back, especially when it comes to larger financing rounds. According to calculations by the data service provider Refinitiv for the Handelsblatt, only eight billion euros were invested in German start-ups from January to November and thus only around half of the sum invested in the entire previous year.
The ratings suffer as a result. Many start-ups can only avert devaluations by making concessions to investors, for example by assuring investors a fixed return if their shares are later resold, known in technical jargon as “liquidation preference”. Sennder would be an exception here, since the start-up does not grant anything like that.
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