Smartlane and the EIC Accelerator: AI Dispatch for Freight Hubs

Planning which truck carries which shipment is still largely manual work in many logistics hubs. That is the starting point described in the EU project Smartlane won: manual processes and multiple legacy systems, to be replaced by one cloud platform that learns and plans routes automatically. Smartlane, founded in Munich in 2015, sells that software to freight forwarders and logistics companies.

The European Innovation Council granted €1,697,500 towards a two-year, €2.43 million project, announced together with a €4.5 million equity round in January 2022. The project report describes automated planning in pilots and a large pipeline of potential customers. Four years after the grant, its customer numbers and revenue are not public.

Where Smartlane Stands Today

Smartlane is still an independent company, listed as active in the German register. Co-founder Mathias Baur ceased to be a managing director in September 2023. The register records state aid under Germany's research tax allowance in March 2024, and a new shareholder, Vality Ventures, in December 2025. Its website says the software has planned more than 110 million kilometres, 15 million shipments and 900,000 vehicles, and has been on the market for more than ten years.

We found no funding round announced since January 2022, no named large customer contract and no published revenue.

The Technology: A Self-Learning Dispatcher

Dispatching a depot's trucks is a daily optimisation problem: which shipments go on which vehicle, in what order, within delivery windows and driver hours. Smartlane's software, connected to a customer's transport management system, plans the routes automatically; the EIC award describes it as self-learning and working in real time. At the Series A, co-founder and CEO Monja Mühling told Silicon Canals that it cut dispatch overhead "by up to 90 per cent".

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

The award description promised "double-digit cost-, CO2- and tyre wear savings". The CORDIS report says the project automated 80% of route planning activities, with the potential to save two to three full-time staff per logistics hub, and achieved about 21% lower CO₂ emissions per customer. A three-month pilot covered about 13,000 shipments across 50 live planning operations, the software was integrated with customers' transport management systems, and it reached technology readiness level 8. The report counts "over 360 potential customers" in its lead pipeline and describes a focus on full-truckload forwarders, a shift from the part-load market the company described in 2022.

1. Automated dispatchingDelivered80% of route planning automated in pilots.
2. Double-digit CO₂ savingsReportedAbout 21% per customer, as reported by the company to CORDIS.
3. Tyre wear savingsNot reportedPromised in the award; not quantified in the report.
4. Commercial scaleNot shownA pipeline of 360 leads; no customer count or revenue.

What Has Happened Since the Award

The Money

The January 2022 package combined €4.5 million from investors led by JOVA Direkt Invest, including Frank Thelen, Ideenschaft Invest, F-LOG Ventures (the venture arm of the logistics group Fiege), Ippen.Media and MobilityFund, with the €1.7 million EIC grant, according to Silicon Canals and Fiege. The money was for a larger team and product development towards autonomous dispatching.

Why Europe Should Care

Better planning cuts kilometres, fuel and emissions without new vehicles or infrastructure, which is why the award paired cost savings with CO₂ savings. Smartlane's case for EU support was a self-learning system that automates the dispatcher's job rather than just assisting it.

The Verdict

Smartlane has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records, company statements and EU project data, linked throughout.