How 'Freight Tech' Went From Industry Jargon to a Defining Category: A Look Back at the 2018–2020 Founding Era

# How 'Freight Tech' Went From Industry Jargon to a Defining Category There was a time, not so long ago, when describing yourself as working in 'freight tech' at a shipping conference would draw little more than a puzzled look. According to FreightWaves, that era — roughly spanning 2018 to 2020 — marked the formative years of what would become one of the most consequential transformations in the freight and logistics industry. The freight industry had always relied on technology in some form, from electronic data interchange (EDI) systems to basic fleet management tools. But the period between 2018 and 2020 saw a distinct shift: a new generation of startups and innovators began applying software-first thinking, data analytics, and platform-based business models specifically to freight challenges, giving rise to a recognisable and investable category. FreightWaves, which has tracked this evolution closely, describes this cohort as the 'founding class' — companies that helped legitimise freight tech as a standalone discipline rather than a subset of broader enterprise software or logistics services. ## Why This Period Matters For maritime and multimodal freight professionals, the 2018–2020 window is significant for several reasons. It coincided with growing pressure on supply chains from e-commerce growth, capacity volatility, and early signals of the disruptions that would culminate in the COVID-19 pandemic. These pressures accelerated demand for real-time visibility, digital freight matching, and data-driven decision-making tools — precisely the solutions that emerging freight tech firms were building. The period also attracted substantial venture capital interest, with investors recognising that freight — a multi-trillion-dollar global industry — had been historically underserved by modern software solutions. ## FreightTech 100 Nominations Open In recognition of the category's continued growth, FreightWaves has opened nominations for its 2027 FreightTech 100 list, with submissions closing on 31 August. The annual ranking highlights the most innovative companies operating at the intersection of technology and freight, spanning trucking, ocean shipping, air cargo, and intermodal logistics. For maritime industry stakeholders, the FreightTech 100 has become a useful barometer of where investment and innovation are flowing within the broader supply chain ecosystem — including port technology, vessel tracking, and digital documentation platforms. As freight tech matures from a nascent movement into an established industry pillar, the founding era of 2018 to 2020 serves as an important reference point for understanding how quickly digital transformation can take hold in even the most traditional of industries.