Freightos (CRGO) Q3 2025: Platform Transactions Surge 27% as Multimodal Strategy Scales
Freightos delivered its 23rd consecutive quarter of record transactions, up 27% year-on-year, as digital penetration deepened across both air and ocean freight segments. The company’s multimodal product expansion and new Visa partnership signal a broader push into payments and workflow integration, while disciplined cost management and automation drive margin gains. With mid-term revenue from ocean bookings still years away, Freightos is balancing growth and profitability, targeting adjusted EBITDA break-even by Q4 2026.
Summary
- Multimodal Expansion Gains Traction: Ocean and air quoting unified, with top-tier forwarders adopting the platform.
- Margin Leverage from Automation: Operating efficiency and higher gross margins offset FX and slower solutions growth.
- Strategic Patience on Ocean Revenue: Significant contribution from ocean e-bookings not expected until 2028.
Performance Analysis
Freightos processed 429,000 transactions in Q3, up 27% year-on-year, marking its 23rd straight quarter of record volume. Platform revenue grew 15% to $2.6 million, while solutions revenue climbed 30% to $5.1 million, reflecting the company’s dual-engine model: platform, which monetizes transaction volume, and solutions, which embeds SaaS tools into customer operations. The majority of revenue remains solutions-driven, but the long-term strategy is for platform revenue to eventually outpace as digital penetration increases.
Gross margin expanded to 69.1% (IFRS) and 74.8% (non-IFRS), supported by automation in customer service and infrastructure optimization. Adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to $2.6 million, with underlying operational improvements partially offset by FX headwinds, particularly a stronger Euro versus the US dollar. Cash and short-term deposits stood at $30.6 million, with full-year cash burn projected at $10 million, down from $15 million last year.
- Platform Mix Shift: WebCargo, fixed-fee air cargo platform, is growing faster than the higher-take-rate Freightos.com, diluting aggregate platform take rate despite volume gains.
- Solutions Cohort Stickiness: Customers using SaaS solutions see 3-4x transaction growth over two years, reinforcing the flywheel between solutions and platform segments.
- Recurring Revenue Foundation: Over 95% of solutions revenue is recurring, providing stability amid macro volatility and longer enterprise SaaS sales cycles.
While revenue growth remains robust, the mix of slower solutions growth and a non-recurring project completion in Q3 will weigh on Q4 revenue, though recurring solutions revenue continues to rise. Management maintained its target for adjusted EBITDA break-even by Q4 2026, emphasizing measured investment and cost discipline.
Executive Commentary
"More buyers and more sellers are using Freightos more frequently, driving short-term revenue growth and long-term scalability of our business. This gives us both breadth and depth on the platform, more opportunities to monetize transactions and to deepen relationships with higher frequency users."
Dr. Tzvi Schreiber, CEO
"Gross margins were strong this quarter... That improvement reflects the inherent operating leverage in our model as we continue scaling. We are seeing benefits from our automation efforts in customer services, which allow us to handle more transactions without proportional increases in personnel or infrastructure cost."
Pablo Pineos, CFO
Strategic Positioning
1. Multimodal Product Integration
Freightos launched its unified air and ocean quoting platform, WebCargo rate and quote Ocean, with early adoption by Nippon Express, a top-five global forwarder. This move positions Freightos to capitalize on the 90% of global goods transported by ocean, leveraging its existing air forwarder customer base for cross-sell opportunities.
2. Payments and Monetization via Visa Partnership
The new partnership with Visa and Transcard brings modern financing and payment orchestration to the platform, aiming to increase transaction monetization and take rates, especially in air cargo. By integrating payments, Freightos can offer value-added services and deepen its platform economics, moving beyond simple booking fees.
3. Ocean Carrier Digitalization: The Long Game
Progress with two new ocean carrier integrations this quarter advances Freightos toward a critical mass of bookable ocean inventory, but management is clear that meaningful revenue from ocean e-bookings will not materialize until 2028. The company is investing now to position itself as the leading digital platform as ocean carriers digitize over the coming years.
4. Geographic Penetration and Network Effects
Penetration is strong in Europe, moderate in the US, and low single digits in Asia, highlighting significant runway for expansion, particularly in Asia where digital adoption lags. Network effects are compounding as more carriers and forwarders transact on the platform, reinforcing the company’s moat and future scalability.
5. Operational Leverage and Cost Discipline
Cost structure remains tightly managed, with headcount flat over two years despite 40%+ revenue growth. Automation, especially through AI in customer support, is driving further efficiency gains, supporting the path to profitability without sacrificing growth potential.
Key Considerations
Freightos is navigating a volatile freight market, balancing aggressive platform expansion with a disciplined approach to profitability. The interplay between transactional platform growth and recurring SaaS solutions revenue is central to the business model, while macro headwinds and industry digitalization pace set the tempo for future upside.
Key Considerations:
- Platform Take Rate Dynamics: The mix shift towards WebCargo, with its lower take rate, will continue to impact platform revenue growth relative to transaction volume.
- Mid-Term Ocean Upside: Ocean e-bookings are a multi-year opportunity, with management targeting significant revenue only from 2028 onward.
- Visa Partnership Leverage: Payments integration has the potential to unlock higher monetization per transaction, especially in air cargo.
- Regional Penetration Gaps: Asia remains a major untapped market; success here could materially accelerate growth.
- Cost and FX Management: FX headwinds are dampening EBITDA progress, but operational expense discipline and automation remain levers to offset volatility.
Risks
Freightos faces several risks: macroeconomic uncertainty, ongoing tariff volatility, and slow digital adoption by ocean carriers could delay revenue ramp. FX fluctuations, particularly Euro strength, impact reported profitability, while longer enterprise sales cycles in a nervous freight market slow solutions growth. Management’s break-even target relies on continued cost discipline and stable recurring revenue trends.
Forward Outlook
For Q4 2025, Freightos guided to:
- Continued year-on-year growth in transactions, gross booking value (GBV), and revenue
- Adjusted EBITDA to remain pressured by FX headwinds
For full-year 2025, management maintained guidance:
- Revenue and cash burn targets on track, with $27 million expected year-end cash
Management highlighted several factors that will shape the coming quarters:
- Slower solutions revenue growth and a completed non-recurring project will weigh on Q4 revenue mix
- Platform revenue outperformance relative to solutions as digital adoption accelerates
Takeaways
Freightos is executing on its vision to digitize global freight, with transaction growth and operational leverage validating the platform model. The company’s ability to unify air and ocean quoting, expand payments, and maintain cost discipline sets a foundation for mid-term upside, though near-term revenue growth will be tempered by macro and mix headwinds.
- Transaction Flywheel: Solutions-driven customer stickiness is fueling platform volume growth, but take rate mix will be a watchpoint for revenue scaling.
- Strategic Patience Required: Ocean e-bookings are a 2028+ story, with near-term gains focused on SaaS cross-sell and payments integration.
- Asia and Payments as Catalysts: Geographic expansion and deeper payment monetization could unlock outsized growth if execution aligns with opportunity.
Conclusion
Freightos is building a defensible digital platform in a massive, underpenetrated market, with operational discipline and product innovation driving durable growth. Investors should monitor platform take rate evolution, ocean digitalization pace, and Asia traction as key levers for future upside.
Industry Read-Through
Freightos’ momentum underscores a broader shift toward digital platforms and workflow automation in global logistics, with leading forwarders and carriers increasingly demanding integrated, real-time solutions. The slow but inevitable digitalization of ocean freight is a multi-year industry transformation, with first movers likely to establish long-lasting network effects and pricing power. Payments integration and SaaS cross-sell strategies are emerging as critical differentiators in platform business models across the transportation and supply chain sector, signaling further convergence between fintech and logistics. Competitors and adjacent industries should closely watch Freightos’ approach to monetization, automation, and global network expansion as a bellwether for sector evolution.