Bahn Express, a Finnish startup specializing in automotive logistics, has recently announced the successful completion of its €5M funding round. The company, known for its innovative platform and logistics solution, aims to challenge the monopoly of traditional trucking companies in the car transport industry. With the new funds, Bahn Express plans to expand its presence in key European markets, including Germany, Sweden, Poland, and Denmark, with plans for further expansion in the future.
Founded in 2024 by Matias Blomberg and Leevi Jäkälä, Bahn Express has quickly become one of Finland’s fastest-growing startups. The company’s platform offers a solution to the lengthy transit times for used cars, leasing returns, and one-way rentals, reducing the time from weeks to just a few days. The recent funding round, led by Swedish fund node.vc, along with existing investors Trind VC and Innovestor, and a syndicate of angel investors, including Vincent Ho-Tin-Noe, CPO of Wolt, and the founders of Swappie and Smartly, will enable Bahn Express to establish local teams in new European markets and expand its headquarters in Helsinki.
The traditional car transport model involves loading cars onto trucks in the origin country and transporting them through a series of hubs and modes of transport, a process that can take up to 40 days. However, Bahn Express has revolutionized the industry by connecting automotive players with a network of over 500 local freelance drivers, drastically reducing the transit time to just a few days. The company also offers additional services, such as quality inspections, all managed through its platform. This allows dealerships and fleet managers to request transport at the click of a button and track progress in real-time.
For automotive players, shorter transportation times mean faster turnover and lower financial risk, while ensuring cars arrive at the right time for further distribution. Bahn Express aims to reduce transport times from the usual 10-30 days to just 2-5 days, resulting in huge cost savings and improving dealership stock turnover by 30%. For customers, this means a shorter wait time between ordering and receiving their new vehicle, improving the overall customer experience.
Matias Blomberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Bahn Express, stated, “The automotive industry is one of the most high-tech and archaic industries at the same time. While innovation in manufacturing is booming, the processes for getting cars to customers haven’t changed much in decades, with cars still being shipped across Europe on trucks. With this investment round, we can rapidly scale our innovative solution to European markets, where we know the demand for more seamless processes is high.”
The European car logistics market is worth €7 billion and is primarily dominated by traditional trucking companies. While other companies offer local transportation within individual EU countries, Bahn Express has an international-first mindset, offering unique import and export capabilities in addition to local services.
Daniela Sjunnesson, Partner at node.vc, commented, “Having followed the Bahn Express team for over a year, it’s clear that their combination of discipline, speed, and customer focus is turning into exceptional execution. Their platform tackles a large bottleneck in European vehicle logistics and is set up to scale faster than the competition. When you meet the team in Helsinki, you really sense a team gearing up for its next phase of growth. We’re confident this is just the start.”
Bahn Express’s long-term vision is to give every person access to any car, anywhere, at any time, with a two-day delivery time. The company has already partnered with major automotive players, including Kamux, Autohuset Vestergaard, and Aampere.
Niko Schmidt, CGO & Co-Founder at Aampere, stated, “Bahn Express has really boosted our logistics operations. Their transport speed is in a league of its own, and the seamless integration into our existing systems means our teams can use Bahn Express without changing how they work. It’s rare to find a partner that combines this level of speed with such a smooth day-to-day experience.”
Acknowledging the differences in each market, Bahn Express has tailored its services to meet the demand of each country. In Poland and Germany, the company predominantly offers rental and leasing-related services, while in Denmark and Finland, the focus is on importing new and used cars to dealerships.
Blomberg concluded, “Anyone expanding to new markets will get burned if they try to copy/paste their approach in one market to the next. That’s why we have hired local experts in each country, and these new funds will be used to expand those into fully operational local units that know their market and can tailor services to the needs of their customers.”
Bahn Express, headquartered in Helsinki and with offices in Copenhagen and Berlin, currently has 30 employees and plans for significant hiring at its headquarters to improve and expand its offering.
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