Nicolas Albrecht (33) only joined the management team of the Leipzig company in January 2020. The co-founder and previous CEO Dr. As Chief Technology Officer CTO, Hans-Jürgen Weidemann (59) will continue to be responsible for CargoBeamer technology. dr Markus Fischer (47), a member of the Management Board since 2016, will remain the company’s CFO.
With its patented handling technology, the company makes it possible to transport all types of semi-trailers by rail in a fully automated, fast and cost-efficient manner. Most semi-trailers cannot be transported by rail with conventional rail wagons because they cannot be craned, i.e. they cannot be placed on the rail wagon from the road with a crane. Transport by rail is 100 percent electric and reduces CO2 emissions by 80 percent compared to road transport with a diesel truck, the company emphasises. At the same time, the growing congestion on roads and motorways can be prevented.
“The appointment of Nicolas Albrecht as CEO represents a paradigm and generation shift in the management history of CargoBeamer,” summarises Robert A. Osterrieth, Chairman of the CargoBeamer Supervisory Board. “After Hans-Jürgen successfully developed the leading technology for handling transports from road to rail and made it market-ready with the introduction of the Kaldenkirchen – Domodossola line and the opening of the first terminal in Calais, it will be Nicolas Albrecht’s task to develop and accelerate the previous growth path and expand the route and terminal network along the European transport corridors.”
dr Hans-Jürgen Weidemann explained: “My vision was and is the introduction of a technology for the automated, fast, environmentally friendly and cost-efficient rail transport of all types of semi-trailers. With the unique CargoBeamer system, we have realised this vision of paper sketches ready for the market – and reduce the CO2 emissions of tens of thousands of transports per year by around 80 percent compared to the road.”
The new CEO is aware of the importance of his task. “CargoBeamer has the potential to make a massive contribution to reducing CO2 emissions by scaling its system and to become the European market leader in combined road-rail transport,” says Nicolas Albrecht: “We are benefiting from the major megatrends surrounding climate protection, one increasing congestion on the roads and rising volumes in goods transport. Our growth path is ambitious and realistic at the same time: in around ten years we are aiming for sales of up to five billion euros with attractive profitability.”
Financing round of over 33.5 million euros
To implement the growth course, CargoBeamer is planning significant financial investments in the wagon fleet and the terminal network. Fresh growth capital of EUR 33.5 million was recently secured for this purpose, which means that the company is now valued at EUR 245 million. In addition to existing investors who have helped CargoBeamer to become marketable, the new investors are mainly private investors and family offices from Switzerland and the USA, who have been convinced by CargoBeamer of its long-term growth potential and important contribution to climate protection. In January 2021, the strategic partner Duisport was added to the investor portfolio.
dr Markus Fischer, CFO of CargoBeamer, is pleased about the encouragement and support from both our existing and new investors: “The fresh capital will help us to pursue our ambitious growth course. Above all, it shows the confidence in our technology when international investors provide private capital for our growth.”
One of the private investors is Matthias Ederer from New York. He explains: “CargoBeamer meets many requirements that make it a very promising company for investors: massive growth potential, the company’s own technology that has been proven in its functionality and a business model that can hardly be copied by other companies due to high market entry barriers. The company benefits enormously from the two major megatrends of climate change and the growing congestion on roads and motorways. Last but not least, the aspect of being able to make a real contribution to climate protection convinced me.”
Development of a European route and terminal network
With the fresh capital, the wagon fleet will be doubled to over 600 wagons and the development of new CargoBeamer terminals will be advanced. By 2032, the network should consist of over 50 new routes and around 30 CargoBeamer terminals in the core market of Europe, with each route and each terminal being carefully selected along the main trade routes. After the first handling facility was opened in Calais in summer 2021, construction for the next two terminals in Domodossola (Northern Italy) and Kaldenkirchen (German-Dutch border) is expected to start this year.
From 2023, CargoBeamer will be able to serve routes between Germany, Italy and France completely with its own handling technology and load semi-trailers fully automatically, quickly and cost-effectively. Further investments are planned for the continuous further development of the cloud-based software “CargoBeamer eLogistics”, which enables the completely digitised management of the transport chain, including customer information, booking, management of scheduling, track & trace, clearing and reporting as well as billing.
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