2017 Under the Radar: TradeLanes eyes Midwestern Ag as future clients
August 29, 2017 | Meghan LeVota
Editor’s note: Startland News picked 10 early-stage firms to spotlight for its annual Under the Radar startups list. The following is one of 2017’s companies. To view the full list, click here.
A recent graduate of the 2017 Sprint Accelerator program, TradeLanes is a newbie in Kansas City and showing significant movement.
The TradeLanes platform automates global trade focused on agriculture firms, lowering costs and removing days from the supply chain. To date, more than 90,000 cargo units have been shipped using the platform, said co-founder Vijay Harrell.
Digitizing documents, tracking shipments, notifying shippers of supply status, online bookings and detailed reports, the TradeLanes platform aims to make trade more efficient, Harrell said.
Thanks to its participation in the Sprint Accelerator, Trade Lanes (formerly of Miami, Florida) developed a beneficial working relationship with Kansas City-based Dairy Farmers of America. Harrell said the firm hopes to continue a partnership with the Ag giant, as well as other Kansas City area corporations.
The Sprint Accelerator is the third accelerator program for TradeLanes, since the firm launched in 2015. It also participated in the FedEx Logistics Accelerator and Venture Hive Miami.
Following the Sprint Accelerator program, Harrell has made a Kansas City hire and plans to open an office in the Crossroads this fall. Harrell believes that Kansas City is the best place for the firm to do business thanks to its central location and abundance of potential corporate partners
TradeLanes is in the middle of raising a seed round, which has yet to be announced publicly. Harrell is excited to focus on snagging as many Kansas City-area customers as possible, he said.
Featured Business
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
How this reality TV star is using his platform to help tech students start life-changing careers without heavy debt
Nehemiah Clark stands at the crossroads of reality TV and inclusive tech education. As a former cast member on MTV’s “The Real World: Austin” and a frequent competitor on the Paramount+ “The Challenge” series, Clark leverages his audience to further the mission of SnapIT Solutions, he shared. “On [‘The Challenge’], I’ve talked about what I…
How Charlie Hustle’s wholesale expansion, collegiate licensing is growing its brand beyond the KC Heart
Chase McAnulty is on a mission to build Charlie Hustle into a national brand, he shared, without losing the company’s roots in Kansas City. “We’ve really driven the narrative that not only celebrates culture, but civic pride. It’s a challenge to go to these other markets and give them their version of the KC Heart,…
Two UMKC-linked research teams earn Comeback KC Ventures funding for COVID innovations
Two research teams tied to the University of Missouri-Kansas City have received proof-of-concept funding support through Comeback KC Ventures and will take the next step toward bringing their innovations from the university lab to market to solve problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the funding program announced. Funds from Comeback KC Ventures focus on the…
She sends food to the dinner table, instead of the trash can; how one social venture is saving family mealtime with would-be waste
A Kansas City nonprofit’s innovative approach is reducing food waste, fighting food insecurity, and restoring family mealtime. Pete’s Garden, founded in 2019 by Tamara Weber, partners with caterers, restaurants, and food service organizations to save unserved, prepared food that would otherwise be thrown out. Weber and a team of volunteers portion and package that food…