By RIley Kaminer
Todd Haselhorst is a logistics guy. He has already built and sold several successful businesses including Auto Transport Plus (sold to OPENLANE) and logistics venture CubeMonk (sold to Cend). So Haselhorst doesn’t fit the stereotypical profile of a crypto bro – far from it – yet his ambitions are no less than those of the most diamond-handed web3 fanatic.
Haselhorst is currently building HEALE (pronounced Heal-E), an open and decentralized network designed to make the entire shipment lifecycle more predictable, profitable, and sustainable. In short, Haselhorst has his sights set on nothing less than the web3 disruption of perhaps the most tangible industry out there: logistics.
“I’ve spent 15 years starting and exiting businesses in logistics, and each time we faced the same issue: numerous integrations and widespread bad data,” Haselhorst shared, noting that his companies devoted 35% of their budgets to managing data correctly.
“In the logistics industry, this leads to coordinators making decisions based on inaccurate, irrelevant, or outdated information, resulting in substantial problems,” he continued. “These errors, along with theft, fraud, and waste, cost the industry approximately $268 billion annually worldwide.”
While Haselhorst first noticed these issues in 2016, the technology available at that point was too slow, too expensive, and not scalable. By 2022 though, the technology had advanced enough to effectively support the logistics industry. And that tech? Web3.
By harnessing the power of blockchain technology, Heale Labs offers a platform that enhances transparency and security across the shipping lifecycle. This technology enables automated trust verification, which is crucial for reducing losses and increasing reliability in shipments.
The platform integrates multiple data sources, creating a more collaborative ecosystem among shippers, freight brokers, carriers and drivers. This integration is critical for fostering transparency and incentivizing honest dealings within the logistics network. Equally, the economic rewards provided for trustworthy behavior help enhance overall industry standards.
“We’re concentrating on tokenizing logistics assets such as pallets, trucks, trailers, and containers to create a master record for each item,” explained Haselhorst. “This approach establishes data ownership, improves data control, enhances asset fungibility, and allows for better tracking throughout the shipment or product lifecycle.”
HEALE already has a proof of concept and launched their platform in August of last year. Since then, the platform has seen $2.2B in transaction volume committed to the network through 197,000 shipments from 310 shippers and 754 carriers with 12,000 trucks. In March, the company raised $1.1 million in a pre-seed round from the supply chain technology fund Venture 53. Now, HEALE is persuing a $6 million seed fundraise.
Heale Labs has ambitious plans ahead. It is developing a truckload marketplace app designed to streamline the way logistics operations are conducted. Additionally, the integration of advanced logistics tools into their platform is set to offer more robust solutions to everyday logistics problems.
“Our goal is to be the largest DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) project in web3 by 2028,” said Haselhorst, emphasizing the magnitude of these plans by noting that the DePIN vertical is projected to grow from $36 billion to $3.9 trillion in that same period of time.
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