Founders Today: SP Tech Solutions expands its operations and enters the German market

It took SP Tech Solutions five years to become a leader in innovation in the freight rail sector in Poland. Their solutions are used by the largest carriers in their country, including Lotos Kolej, PKP Cargo, and Freightliner PL.

In the first quarter of the year, the company’s market share, based on the weight of goods transported by their clients, exceeded 50%. Although last year was a record-breaking year in terms of revenue – almost 10 million euros – its CEO, Piotr Sikorski, promises further dynamic growth, increased market share, and the debut of new products. SP Tech Solutions also announced its entry and strengthening of its position in Germany, one of the leading transport markets in Europe. This will be supported by recently secured funding of nearly 3 million EUR and new tools that perfectly meet the needs of our Western neighbors.

The transport industry is undoubtedly one of the critical elements of the global economy, influencing many sectors and their stability and development. Currently, 78% of goods in Europe are transported by road. Still, in the coming years, this percentage is expected to decrease in favour of other, more environmentally friendly forms of transport. One of these is rail, which currently accounts for 17% of the market.

The Green Deal, which aims to reduce emissions from transport by 90%, will accelerate this transformation.

“The rail market has enormous potential for transporting goods in a more environmentally friendly way compared to the currently dominant road transport. To head in this direction, modern infrastructure and innovations that can streamline logistical processes, thereby increasing capacity and efficiency, need to be developed. – comments Piotr Sikorski, CEO SP Tech Solutions.”

“We are well aware of these market changes and needs, so at SP Tech Solutions, we focus on building tools that comprehensively meet the needs of companies involved in rail freight transport, including those in foreign markets. Undoubtedly, Germany is one of the main hubs of European transport. Hence, a natural step is to scale our operations in this country strongly.” – adds Piotr Sikorski.

Automation and optimisation as key for rail development

Their primary tool, Raily Taxi, has firmly established itself in the Polish market. Companies such as PKP Cargo and RAIL Polska already use this traction team transport optimisation system. Notably, Raily Taxi enables these companies to transport railway staff with a punctuality rate of 99.7%, which is an essential factor in the logistics process.

The SP Tech Solutions team has completed testing and is preparing to launch their next tool, Raily Marketplace.

“The rail market across Europe has long struggled with a human capital deficit and a lack of effective time management for employees. For example, the operational working time of freight train drivers is only 35-50%. At the same time, the workload of dispatchers increasingly resembles a call centre. In response to these challenges, we developed RAILY Marketplace, which digitises collaboration with various service providers, including traction services—in simple terms, it allows for the rental of inspectors or train drivers" – explains Michał Pawłowski, Co-Founder of SP Tech Solutions.

“The platform eliminates the need for phone searches, automates billing, and provides information on the total service cost, including travel. This solution significantly increases carriers’ efficiency and reduces their services’ overall cost“ – adds Pawłowski.

Entering German Market

Without a doubt, Germany is a major transport hub in Europe due to its central location and its well-developed air, rail, and road infrastructure. To increase the share of rail transport, they are also seeking solutions to problems related to workforce shortages, the need to improve the efficiency of logistics companies, and the reduction of service costs.

“It is estimated that about 50% of railway workers in the German market operate on an outsourcing basis. This creates a huge demand for solutions like RAILY Marketplace, which can automate and simplify work previously done through phone searches for specialists and negotiating terms and scope of cooperation. This is why our efforts in foreign expansion are focused on our Western neighbours” – comments Michał Pawłowski, co-founder of SP Tech Solutions.

Currently, SPTech Solutions focuses its activities on three tools that form the Raily ecosystem. In addition to the previously mentioned Raily Taxi and Raily Marketplace, it also includes Raily Cargo, which automates the planning and execution of rail freight transport.

At the beginning of this year, SP Tech Solutions secured nearly 3 million EUR in funding from the HiTech fund, managed by Vinci S.A. A significant portion of this funding will be allocated to the intensified efforts that are now beginning to focus on the German market.

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