Mitsui & Co.  invested $10 million in FourKites, a supply chain company, to expand FourKites’ offerings across the APAC region. This investment includes the first phase in an ongoing strategic relationship between FourKites and Mitsui, which the two companies intend to formalise by the end of 2022. The strategic partnership will initially focus on Japan, with plans to jointly expand throughout APAC.

Mitsui’s investment in FourKites is the result of a yearlong effort between the two companies, which included Mitsui’s extensive due diligence of the supply chain visibility landscape. With FourKites’ offerings and track record in the region, Mitsui plans to invest significant resources to expand FourKites’ coverage in APAC, including sales, customer service, operations and product localisation, which will result in a hyper-localised solution for the APAC market.

“We are excited to partner with FourKites to bring improved supply chain visibility and efficiency to operations in all industries and all countries throughout APAC,” John Kenichi Kogiku, general manager of digital solution business division at Mitsui, said. “FourKites and Mitsui share a culture of innovation, integrity and collaboration, and a broader vision for transforming global supply chains. We are looking forward to working with FourKites to achieve our mutual goals through digitisation and automation.”

The joint initiative with Mitsui is the latest strategic move in FourKites’ expansion in the APAC region. The company currently tracks international shipments in 44 countries and territories in APAC, and over the last 12 months, FourKites has seen:

• 240% growth in shipments tracked
• 91% growth in new APAC customers
• 70% growth in the number of carriers tracking loads in APAC
• 30% growth in the number of ports tracked in APAC, now totaling 270 ports in the region
• 315% growth in the number of facilities tracked in APAC, now totaling 7,000 facilities

“As a global logistics hub, companies throughout APAC are making significant investments in supply chain transformation,” Mathew Elenjickal, CEO and founder of FourKites, said. “Given this growth trajectory, we are honored that Mitsui has selected FourKites as a partner to bring unprecedented levels of visibility to the APAC region. We are thrilled to welcome Mitsui into our powerhouse network of strategic investors who are working together to revolutionise supply chains around the world.”