“Siri for truck drivers”: Alumnus takes Business Plan Contest pitch to Inc.5000 list
The 2018 Inc.5000 list of the fastest growing companies in America included a newcomer with a direct link to the SUNY New Paltz School of Business.
Cargofy, an AI virtual assistant and logistics service for the freight industry, has been described as “Siri for truck drivers.” It enables users to run their businesses more efficiently by helping truckers find nearby loads, calculate routes and save money on fuel, tires and other maintenance costs.
The service is the brainchild of New Paltz alumnus Dimitris Alexiou ’12 (International Business), who incubated early iterations of the Cargofy concept and presented them in the 2012 Business Plan Contest.
Alexiou came to New Paltz form Queens, New York, to study business and compete on the men’s soccer team.
“I remember New Paltz being a great place to be curious,” he said. “There were loads of courses covering interesting subjects.”
As an international business student, Alexiou soon learned about the many classes the School of Business offers in entrepreneurship, which culminate in the Business Plan Contest. Students work in teams to identify markets and research and develop business plans, and go on to present them before a panel of judges for a cash prize.
“Cargofy was born in the SUNY New Paltz Business Plan Contest,” Alexiou said. “As our professor said, ‘No one plans to fail; people fail to plan.’ It wasn’t until I joined that class that I realized how much attention is needed in business planning and budgeting.”
He had realized that technological advances that were transforming all kinds of industries had not reached shipping and freight.
“At the time, there were a number of industries being disrupted by virtual booking services (i.e Uber with taxis; Expedia with airlines; Airbnb with vacation rentals),” he said. “I saw a lot of value in this type of tech entering the freight industry.”
After graduation, Alexiou paid the bills with an internship but continued to devote all his free time to Cargofy He studies the industry and the underlying technology that would be needed to power his app, and met with potential investors at startup events around the world.
He eventually teamed up with Stakh Vozniak, who was building a similar platform in Ukraine, and together they brought Cargofy to life in 2014. In the years since, the company has enjoyed rapid and dramatic growth, bringing in $2.7 million in revenue in 2017 and earning widespread recognition in the worlds of venture capital and tech media.
“2018 was a big year for us,” Alexiou said. “We were selected to the Inc.5000 as one of America’s fastest growing companies, and as one of Tech Crunch’s top start-ups in the Mobility and Transportation category.”
Alexiou currently serves as chief marketing officer for Cargofy. He said his experience taking Cargofy from idea to global brand has helped him realize how ideal the college environment can be for helping aspiring entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality.
“So many great start-ups come out of universities because students have a network of collaborators, professors and mentors at their finger-tips,” Alexiou said. “I would tell students today to take advantage of all the time and resources at your disposal while at SUNY New Paltz. There is no better environment to share ideas, get feedback and even meet cofounders.”
Visit the School of Business at SUNY New Paltz to learn more about entrepreneurship programs and other opportunities.