On May 22, 2024, the German intermodal company CargoBeamer announced that it had secured an investment capital of €140 million from public and private investors as part of its current Series B funding program. Of this, €90 million comes from the transport ministries of Germany and Switzerland, while €50 million is from the Nordwind Ventures fund, belonging to the Albrecht family. A significant portion of this investment, amounting to €40 million, is earmarked for the expansion of the Domodossola terminal, which is becoming a crucial hub for European intermodal transport.
The enhancement of the Domodossola terminal, where CargoBeamer facilitates the transfer of semi-trailers (including non-craneable ones) from road to rail, aims to handle a traffic of 185,000 units per year. In announcing the funding, CargoBeamer also stated that it is considering opening a terminal in Bari, as well as in Perpignan (France) and Ashford (UK). Currently, in addition to Domodossola, the company operates terminals in Kaldenkirchen, Germany, and a fully automated one in Calais, France.
This financing will enable CargoBeamer to strengthen its European network, with the goal of building eighteen terminals over the next ten years to establish up to fifty combined road-rail transport routes. CargoBeamer terminals can load up to 38 semi-trailers onto a train in twenty minutes, making the process nine times faster than traditional crane-based terminals.
The German company claims that its volumes have grown by 39%, despite the European intermodal transport market contracting by 14%. It also estimates that the market it targets will reach a value of around €77 billion in the coming years. “The significant public funding for CargoBeamer is an extraordinary demonstration of the importance of our technology and represents a further strong incentive in our fundraising process,” said Nicolas Albrecht, CEO of CargoBeamer.
