About Llew Claasen

Llew is the co-founder and Managing Partner at Newtown Partners. He is a go-to-market strategist with almost two decades of senior management experience in cryptocurrencies, digital product management and digital marketing.

Embracing Circular Economy: Unlocking Sustainability and Resilience in the Logistics Industry

By |2023-06-01T14:44:48+02:00June 1st, 2023|

In the face of escalating environmental pressures, the logistics and supply chain management industry sectors have recognized the transformative potential of the circular economy. Unlike a traditional linear model, circular economy business models aim to eliminate waste, circulate products through upcycling and remanufacturing, and regenerate nature. Companies embracing circular business models have showcased their [...]

Logistics and Supply Chain Technology Trends: Empowering Corporate Growth

By |2023-05-26T11:22:21+02:00May 24th, 2023|

Platforms and Aggregators In the ever-evolving logistics and supply chain industry landscape, startups are already challenging the established norms by offering groundbreaking solutions to age-old problems. To maintain a competitive edge and foster innovation, large corporate organizations must comprehensively understand emerging technologies and their potential to reshape traditional practices in the coming 5 to [...]

The startup roadmap explained for the beginning entrepreneur

By |2023-03-28T17:03:31+02:00March 28th, 2023|

Starting a business can be an exciting undertaking for budding entrepreneurs. Launching the next big startup requires more effort than buying a domain name or registering the company – you must plan out every step of the journey. That's why you need a startup roadmap. In this guide, we'll explain why you, as a [...]

Why we invested in global eCommerce logistics trailblazer Fulfillment Bridge

By |2022-11-10T15:28:13+02:00November 10th, 2022|

We recently invested in Fulfillment Bridge, a promising startup empowering online merchants to control their eCommerce logistic supply chain and scale their business cross-border. Shutterstock/Gorodenkoff End customers expect to receive their e-commerce products anytime and anywhere within a very short time between order and delivery, with excellent service and high convenience. Shipping [...]

Filecoin Africa Launch in Cape Town – postponed to 2023

By |2022-11-09T16:38:48+02:00November 2nd, 2022|

Newtown Partners will host the Filecoin Africa Launch event, the largest gathering of the Filecoin community in Africa to date, on 15 November 2022 at Cabo in Cape Town, South Africa. The event is free to attend and invite-only, but anyone can apply for an invite below. Filecoin is a decentralized [...]

Why we invested in insurtech startup Lami

By |2022-08-05T13:09:11+02:00August 5th, 2022|

We recently invested in Lami, an insurtech startup which embeds insurance into existing digital infrastructure to increase insurance penetration across Africa. Shutterstock/ArtemisDiana Insurance market penetration remains low in Africa at less than 3% in 2019, with GWP per capita 11 times lower than the world average. This is despite the increasing financial [...]

Why we invested in vertical trucking SaaS platform BeyondTrucks

By |2022-07-29T10:44:37+02:00July 29th, 2022|

Newtown Partners via the Imperial Venture Fund has invested in the US-based trucking SaaS platform, BeyondTrucks. This undisclosed round of venture financing marks an increase in investment depth into the US trucking landscape. Shutterstock/PopTika Traditional trucking companies face the following challenges: Lack of digitalization in trucking payments processes The cost of inefficiencies and [...]

Why we invested in Digital Health Platform Waspito

By |2022-04-02T12:37:09+02:00April 2nd, 2022|

We recently invested in  Waspito, a Cameroon-based digital health platform on a big mission to drive affordable and accessible quality healthcare across the African continent.   The $2.7m oversubscribed Series Seed round of venture financing via the Imperial Venture Fund further expands Imperial’s investment scope within Francophone West Africa to augment its market access and [...]

Why we invested in Pharmacy Benefits Platform – Chefaa

By |2022-03-14T13:36:23+02:00March 14th, 2022|

Newtown Partners via The Imperial Venture Fund has invested in Egypt-based pharmacy benefits platform Chefaa in an undisclosed round of venture financing, marking an expansion of its healthtech investment  breadth into the MENA region. Shutterstock/LeoWolfert Chefaa is an asset-light, digital e-pharmacy and pharmacy benefits platform that enables access and direct distribution to  [...]

Why we invested in first mile drayage digital logistics marketplace Haulio

By |2022-01-21T13:58:55+02:00January 21st, 2022|

Newtown Partners portfolio company, Haulio, announced raising $7M in Series A equity financing. Shutterstock/Travel mania Haulio is a Singaporean asset-light managed marketplace for booking first-mile logistics and drayage services in the ASEAN region. Haulio has developed a sophisticated technology stack that digitizes the first-mile logistics process through a haulage management platform that connects shippers with [...]

Why we invested in supply chain “Proof of Delivery” software provider Clockwork Logistics

By |2021-09-14T14:20:28+02:00September 14th, 2021|

Newtown Partners portfolio company, Clockwork Logistics, today announced raising $5.5m in Seed equity financing. Shutterstock/KAMONRAT Clockwork creates a single source of truth and actionable visibility into the first-mile pickup and final mile delivery, including drayage. Clockwork achieves this single source of truth by combining a simple truck driver application with a software [...]

Why we invested in Singaporean supply chain visibility startup Portcast

By |2021-09-10T13:17:20+02:00September 7th, 2021|

Newtown Partners portfolio company, Portcast, today announced raising $3.2m in Pre-Series A equity financing. Portcast is a Singapore-based SaaS platform that enables freight forwarders and shippers to improve profitability through real-time vessel and container tracking and dynamic demand forecasting. Portcast learns from public and proprietary datasets and provides accurate, frequent, and granular predictive analytics. [...]

What it takes to do corporate venture capital successfully: key learnings from the Imperial program

By |2021-09-10T13:18:50+02:00August 31st, 2021|

When large organizations set aside a pool of capital to be deployed over many years as equity investments into startups, we call this corporate venture capital or corporate VC. These programs are typically expected to generate attractive financial returns over their lifetime, but the underlying investments are expected to have strategic relevance to the [...]

Why we invested in European digital forwarder Shypple’s acquisition of Milestone

By |2021-08-31T15:11:25+02:00August 10th, 2021|

Newtown Partners portfolio company, Shypple, today announced its acquisition of perishable goods freight forwarder, Milestone. Shypple is a digital freight forwarding service operating since 2016, now connecting more than 3,000 companies. The technology-driven Shypple platform provides organizations with end-to-end transparency and control over their entire supply chain, increasing efficiency, minimizing errors, and optimizing global [...]

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