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
Serial builder uses sensor tech to ‘see’ inside problem-prone properties with Particle Space
Passion for building breathes life into a successful startup and the collective ecosystem, said David Biga. “[Builders] are a critical piece to our startup community,” said Biga, founder of Kansas City-based SaaS firm Particle Space. “If you don’t have people who care to build and offer things to those before you — then why come…
Duo designs Paloma Post greeting cards for more inclusive representation of couples
As she stood flipping through an endless sea of birthday cards, Julie Korona couldn’t find a single one that would send the right message to her then-fiancé, Tyler, she recalled. “All of the cards that I was looking through either said ‘husband’ or were super generic,” said Korona, co-founder of Paloma Post — a newly…
Artist who won rare Jayhawk licensing deal — scoring a $150K payday — set to rebound
Seemingly routine for many Kansas fans, crimson and blue are once again among the colors flooding the canvas of the 2019 NCAA tournament. But for artist Megh Knappenberger, the Jayhawks’ familiar palate has painted an entrepreneurial journey with as thrilling ups and downs as Big 12 basketball, she said. “It’s a pretty special and unique…
Cloud platform Packet opens KC office after $25M funding round in New York
New York-based Packet’s newly established Kansas City office is expected to take full advantage of the area’s wealth of tech talent, said Ihab Tarazi. “There is actually a very good technical base in Kansas City — so here’s validation of that,” said Tarazi, chief technology officer at the cloud infrastructure firm committed to “building a…