This requires choices.

Digital Freight Forwarding enters a new phase.

What do you do when you start a company together, to simplify the world of international logistics, and this company outgrows you and each other? This requires choices.

The brothers Martijn and Bart de Ruiter started Explect in 2015; the first digital freight forwarder of the Netherlands. The first office, on the havendam in Oud-Beijerland, was a small room; just large enough for two desks and an internet connection. This last thing might look like a no-brainer, but digitalization is still hardly available in the world of logistics.

What started out as an easy online request form to provide new and recurring customers with help faster, grew out to become a full-fledged self-built software system. The idea was simple; unburden customers via digitalization with a personal touch. This online platform provided Explect with a foundation for a solid growth each year.

Naturally, not all things went smoothly. A lot has happened in the past 7.5 years, as expected for start-ups. Seven-and-a-half years of ups and downs; from drastic steps such as rebuilding the entire platform without negatively affecting customers, to privatizing the platform in a separate partnership: Digimentr.

Starting as a brotherly start-up, later being accompanied with Pim Verhage as 3rd partner, Explect has grown out to become a mature digital freight forwarder. A great adventure had begun; building a platform on which other companies can digitalize their freight forwarding as well.

Sometimes you hit a fork in the road that requires you to pick a direction.

However, as with most adventures, sometimes you hit a fork in the road where you must choose a direction to move towards. Explect has left the pioneering phase far behind them. This marked the moment for the brothers to re-evaluate their passions. For Martijn it was clear that his passion was in the digitalization of industries that have a lot to benefit from it.

Martijn has therefore decided in mutual consultation to leave Explect and Digimentr and put his knowledge to use in this digitalization. The remaining board members, Bart de Ruiter and Pim Verhage, will continue to run both businesses together.

A new phase has arrived.

In the meantime, Explect has grown out to be a multi-million-dollar company with a team of 14 employees. Within the digital platform are over 2000 users and more than 6500 businesses. The expectation is that this growth will continue. Explect and Digimentr look to the future with confidence and expect to keep up this success with this enthusiastic team.