2018 Startups to Watch: Super Dispatch takes shipping partners into the digital age
January 16, 2018 | Traci Angel
Editor’s note: Startland News selected the top Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list. The following is one of 2018’s companies. To view the full, ranked list of Startups to Watch, click here.
Super Dispatch first delivered its concept to the trucking and hauling industries with professionals and managers adopting the Kansas City firm’s technology. Now it’s time for the next leg of the journey.
“We have evolved to taking an entire trucking company and digitizing it,” said founder Bek Abdullayev.
1) Plexpod
2) PayIt
3) Bardavon
4) Rx Savings Solutions
5) Swell Spark
6) Mycroft
7) Super Dispatch
8) Made in KC
9) RFP365
10) Ruby Jean’s Juicery (tie)
10) Cambrian (tie)
When Abdullayev created the company four years ago, he hoped to streamline the paperwork, receipts and confirmations of shipments for companies and their fleets. Bringing the idea to fruition took experimentation, as well as communication with operators and truckers, he said. Getting drivers and others on board with an idea that would completely revamp their bookkeeping systems took time.
“At first, not everyone had a smartphone,” Abdullayev said. “But that has changed. In the last couple of years it has been driven by peers and what is causing our growth are referrals and word-of-mouth.”
Revenue grew 10 times more in 2016 than in 2015, Abdullayev said, and 2017 brought revenues increasing about 300 percent from 2016.
“That puts us at a huge milestone as a team in crossing into seven figures,” he said.
In doubling its size to about 19 full-time employees, Abdullayev said the team is focusing on its growth.
“We went from being a nuanced pop-up shop to having a space at the table,” Abdullayev said. “We were taken seriously and now we can start discussing much larger problems.”
Super Dispatch’s next frontier aims to find digital solutions to connect those needing to ship materials with trucks that can haul it.
“So far, we have focused on the carrier side and streamlined that,” Abdullayev said. “We want to help the shippers find space and then track the shipment and get paid fast. There’s $700 billion of shipments and they are looking at message boards and calling people. Our platform can be to streamline that.”
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KC mom turns entrepreneur to help kiddo’s kidney condition
In 2013, Tamra Johnson’s daughter faced a life-or-death situation. After contracting an E. coli bacterial infection, Johnson’s daughter, Maleena, lost function to both of her kidneys. Fortunately, a kidney transplant from Maleena’s father, Jamie, saved her life, but it created a new problem: hydration. Maleena was expected to drink over four liters of water per…
Focused on KC, the Lean Lab welcomes five new ed tech startups
The Lean Lab, a Kansas City-based education tech accelerator, is returning for its fourth year with a new approach that aims to be more community focused and sophisticated. During a Tuesday event, the Lean Lab announced the five new startups in its 2017 cohort at a breakfast at the recently renovated Corrigan Station. Katie Boody,…
Innovation coach Diana Kander: Failure is an option
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Yes, you could fail, and it would be embarrassing. People would talk about it. People you know. But let’s be honest, they’re only trying to reassure themselves about the risk-averse choices they’ve made. Yes, you could fail, and it could get you fired. I’m…
Smart City update: Living Lab set to launch, TV show may highlight KC innovation
Bob Bennett, chief innovation officer at the City of Kansas City, Mo., said Kansas City has championed itself as a leader in big data and smart city tech for years now. But now the city is reaching an inflection point to leverage the data at a significant scale, he said. “The bottom line is that…