Press kit

The history of Okargo

OKARGO was created in an increasingly complex market climate/environment for sea freight.

Indeed, since globalization, the growing number of rate sheets from shipping companies and the diversity of formats in which these are sent has not simplified the task of comparing forwarders’ offers.

That is why, in April 2014, the OKARGO team, working around Julien CHAPUS, the company’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, aimed to develop a tool that would facilitate the management of the sea freight rates of freight forwarders.

Less than a year later, this goal was achieved and in April 2014, Okargo served its first customer in France. After two years spent perfecting and upgrading its service in the country, Okargo set its sights further afield and added three other languages in order to serve clients coming from other countries around the world.

Constantly growing, today Okargo simplifies the daily work of more than 50 sea freight forwarders in 10 different countries: Austria, Belgium, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.

Company information

Name: OKARGO
Date established: April 2014
Location: Marseille
CEO/President: Julien CHAPUS
Field: External ocean rate management

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Press release

STORY OF THE COMPANY:

Okargo’s story started back in 2014 when Julien CHAPUS, building on his work experience gained with leading carrier MSC as well as several independent freight forwarders, came up with the idea of digitizing rate procurement processes.

He set up a company based in Marseille with a branch office in Bratislava, Slovakia focused on providing external ocean rate management.

Freight forwarders, which have long struggled to organize their ocean rates, could finally benefit from a service allowing them to effortlessly get a clear and comprehensive overview of their purchasing rates.

Currently serving customers of all sizes from small freight forwarder with a few employees to key market players from all over the world, Okargo has become a MUST HAVE solution for companies who want to keep serving their clients at the highest level by using the latest technologies.

 

 

THE PRODUCT

Okargo is a cloud-based online tool which displays ocean rates in an easily comparable format. The tool is provided together with data processing that provides clients a comprehensive rate management service.

Freight forwarders can easily access all of their ocean rates through their private accounts in our web application, or through their company’s TMS. These rates can either come from online carrier’s quotes, or freight forwarders’ rate sheets which they can simply forward to Okargo, regardless of carrier or file format (Excel, PDF, Word, etc.). The latter are then uploaded to the system using in-house developed solutions and semi-automated processes supervised by dedicated account managers based in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Not only does the system display rates, but it also features a variety of functions that further help users expedite the quotation process. Multiport queries, rate availabilities, quick searches for alternative POLs/PODs and automated location of the nearest port are just a few examples of what Okargo provides freight forwarders.

WHAT’S NEW?

Always striving to give its clients a competitive advantage, Okargo continues to develop system features based on feedback from clients. Future improvements will include the Inland Module allowing quick selection of pre- and post-transport options and the Quotation Module for issuing complete quotations with both ocean and inland transport rates in just a few minutes.