Iceland-based Controlant has secured $15m in series B funding to drive market expansion of its real-time cold chain-as-a-service digital visibility platform, which brings visibility, efficiency and responsiveness to global temperature-controlled supply chains.

Controlant will use the capital to power the expansion of its addressable markets, geographic footprint and customer base. The company is currently supporting the distribution of Covid-19 test kits and has partnered with global pharmaceutical manufacturers to monitor the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, which, pending regulatory approval, are expected to begin shipping later this year.

“Our mission is to help companies ensure product integrity while increasing supply chain efficiency and serving their customers better,” said Gisli Herjolfsson, Controlant co-founder and CEO. “Our solution looks beyond traditional monitoring technologies and is automating product and information flows through actionable data, transforming supply chains from cost centres into strategic revenue generators. Using our integrated platform technology and services, Fortune 500s and large enterprises gain a single source of truth across their end-to-end supply chains, while significantly reducing waste.”

Supply chain visibility for cold chain products is a growing need across global enterprises, specifically in areas such as:

• Coordinating transport and cargo storage flow to ensure products reach key markets;
• Tracking product condition from manufacture through the last kilometre in a highly regulated industry;
• Managing supply chain data and processes across a complex, global network of stakeholders;
• Gaining a single source of supply chain truth by integrating multiple data streams; and
• Proactively identifying and mitigating supply chain risk while reducing costs.

Controlant’s cold chain-as-a-service is a combination of IoT, visibility and analytics through its cloud-enabled software platform, and cost-reducing operational services that increase workflow efficiency and responsiveness while supporting quality and compliance efforts.

Digitally connected cold chain monitoring and visibility technology has created enormous value for global enterprises, which are now looking for other areas that can automate, rendering data and process flows across the supply chain network as an opportunity. Covid-19 has exposed longstanding vulnerabilities and exacerbated the need for supply chains to remove silos and achieve greater agility and resilience.

The key benefits of Controlant are:

• Fast: Deployed quickly at scale, automates supply chain visibility data and processes across multiple stakeholders to increase efficiency.
• Intelligent: Aggregates and harmonises information streams, making it easier to identify risk areas and resolve them quickly.
• Automated: Accelerates data collection and sharing between people and organisations, reducing friction and enabling them to collaborate more productively.
• Empowering: Evolves the role of supply chain logistics from cost centres to strategic revenue generators through communication and data sharing.
• Sustainable: Supports enterprise environmental goals to reduce global manufacturing and supply chain waste.

The oversubscribed round was led by current shareholders and local institutional investors. Also participating were existing and incoming private investors and family offices. Arion Bank Corporate Finance managed the placement. The financing brings Controlant’s total funding to $50m.

“Controlant is uniquely transforming the way global enterprises will collect, use and share their supply chain data while optimising their business operations,” said Benedikt Gislason, CEO at Arion Bank. “The world’s supply chains are undergoing a multi-trillion dollar shift to digital, and Controlant is in the vanguard as a leader in actionable visibility. We are pleased to support a leading Icelandic technology company as an investor and advisor as they lead the global market in the cold chain-as-a-service category.”

Controlant’s mission is to deliver value across the end-to-end supply chain by increasing the visibility of product flow and condition quality, while reducing waste through automated cold chain-as-a-service. Using its IoT, cloud-enabled analytics, API connectivity and cost-reducing operational services, users are said to be achieving an annualised RoI and millions in savings, reducing material losses, and enhancing the reliability of their operations.