uShip.com Will Grow The Australian Transport Marketplace,

uShip.com is the first ever online transport marketplace. The company has announced $18 million that Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has supplied in Series C funding to help increase their growth at an exponential rate. uShip Australia was first launched back in 2009, and the company’s current goal is to renew its focus and heavily invest in expansion within Australia.

uShip uses a reverse-auction method to assist customers with shipping needs to have easy communication with various sized transport companies that range from single truck businesses right up to the largest multinational companies in the industry. Transporters compete for the same work, so the savings are passed onto the customer. Transporters can make additional money by grabbing backloads to fill their empty cargo holds.

uShip’s head office is in Austin, Texas, but they also operate in 18 other countries on five different continents. There is a European office set up in Amsterdam, as well. The transporters uShip uses are featured on “Shipping Wars,” a US TV show that started being televised on Australian TV soon after its premiere in the US.

Although uShip has firmly established its presence in the US and right through Europe, it is still a new company in Australia. uShip General Manager of Global Business and Vice President, Shawn Bose, says “Our work philosophy has proven effective in all the other countries in which we have operations but every market has its own unique idiosyncrasies that need to be evaluated with a fresh set of eyes.” The first steps have been aimed at learning from adopters and search marketing.”

“Long-distance trips are at the heart of the Australian transport industry, which means planning the logistical elements properly is essential for every transporter,” Bose states. “The Australian terrain poses certain unique challenges of its own – but we know uShip can ease some of those logistical nightmares.”

Some of the funding will be invested in Australia, and this should create more growth in the area. Apart from building the company’s commercial shipping platform, uShip also aims to heavily invest in its own mobile applications which are a critical factor in today’s technological market where most people are plugged into the internet via their mobile phones. This mobile access is ideal for transporters who are always on the road. It enables them to find more loads with hardly any downtime, because they’re almost always contactable.

About uShip

uShip mainly services vehicle, freight and household goods shipping. Businesses and individuals can compare prices and make bookings online, name the price they want to pay or get auction-type bids from many thousands of transport providers that range from one man operations right up to huge brokers and carriers. Online reviews are also available to assist in your decision-making process. uShip’s head office is in Austin Texas where it started in 2004. The Australian site can be found at http://www.uship.com/au.

About KPCB

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has backed entrepreneurs in more than 500 ventures leading to 150 IPOs, 350,000 jobs and a deep strategic network. The firm invests in all stages from seed and incubation to growth companies, and has helped build pioneering companies like Amazon, Google, Intuit, Symantec, and WebMD. KPCB operates from offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, Shanghai and Beijing. http://www.kpcb.com.