Radar · Freight Forwarders in Houston
Best Freight Forwarders Companies in Houston, United States
The 62 best Freight Forwarders companies in Houston, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Crane Worldwide Logistics.
By Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories
62companies tracked
$2.9Mdisclosed funding
0unicorns
3have raised
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · FREIGHT FORWARDERS × HOUSTON
Our analysis of 50 Freight Forwarders companies
$8.3b in tracked funding; 88% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2021.
50companies analysed
88%cloud-native stacks
2021funding peak (by rounds)
2001median founding year
45median Fliar Index™
205kcombined LinkedIn audience
87%of audience held by top 3
6companies hiring publicly (12 mo)
Ranked: Best Freight Forwarders companies in Houston
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crane Worldwide Logistics Freight forwarder for air, ocean, and road transport 64Innovation top 20%News top 31%Partners top 33%Market top 43% All 9 signals ▾Innovationtop 20% Newstop 31% Partnerstop 33% Markettop 43% Producttop 43% Growthtop 44% Techtop 46% Globalbottom 37% Fundingbottom 26% Innovation: 8 product lines News: 3 BI events in 12 mo (of 33 tracked, 7 types) · Top themes: Contracts, M&A rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 64/100 | $2M | 195 mo ago | Seed | — | 2008 | ProcessWireApple iCloud MailPHP+19 | — | 2 expansions |
| 2 | nVntori Company that offers strategic supply chain management, warehousing solutions, and logistics expertise 32Talent bottom 49%Funding bottom 48%Global bottom 25% All 3 signals ▾Talentbottom 49% Fundingbottom 48% Globalbottom 25% Talent: 1 named leader on record · 1 C-suite/founder profile curated Funding: Raised $1.0M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 32/100 | $1M | 14 mo ago | Funding Raised | Ed Gort Founder & CEO | 2020 | — | — | 1 job opening |
| 3 | Aries Worldwide Logistics Provider of freight forwarder and logistics services | — | 168 mo ago | Funding Raised | Jeff McIntyre CEO | 1984 | HubSpot CMS HubSalesforcecore-js+20 | — | 6 job openings |
| 4 | 5J Transportation Group Provider of comprehensive operational, loading, hauling, and offloading services for heavy transportation… | — | — | Unfunded | — | 1981 | — | 226 patents Advanced vehicle control, propulsion, braking, and off‑board detection systems for transportation | — |
| 5 | Andalusian Energy Provider of compressed natural gas transportation solutions | — | — | Funding Raised | Alden Kitson CEO | 2016 | — | — | — |
| 6 | ANR Transport Provider of road freight forwarding services | — | — | Unfunded | — | 2000 | — | — | — |
| 7 | Aquaocean Transport Inc Texas Cargo & Freight Company | — | — | — | — | 1995 | — | — | — |
| 8 | asap freight systems ASAP Freight Systems provides LTL freight, specialty freight, urgent freight, and air freight services for… | — | — | — | — | 1987 | — | — | — |
Top 3 Freight Forwarders companies in Houston
#1
Funding Raised · Houston, Texas · founded 2020$1Mraised▾
Funding Raised · Houston, Texas · founded 2020
nVntori is a supply chain management and inventory management service company that helps clients transform their supply chain operations through digital solutions. The company offers a range of services, including inventory optimization, technology gap assessments, and supply chain network optimization, to enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs. With a focus on logistics and procurement, nVntori partners with clients to improve key metrics such as procurement, shipping costs, and supply chain partner relationships.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 32how this company ranks against its industry peers
Talent
bottom 49%Funding
bottom 48%Global
bottom 25%Talent: 1 named leader on record · 1 C-suite/founder profile curated
Funding: Raised $1.0M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) · Last round Conventional Debt (Apr 2025)
Global: Single-market focus (United States)
Audience (LinkedIn): 918 LinkedIn followers
Hiring (LinkedIn): 5 hiring posts in 12 mo (public) · momentum +0 · hiring: Senior Sales Manager, Director of Business Development
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 expansions announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Apr 2025Conventional Debt$1M
Founders & team
#2
Seed · Houston, Texas · founded 2008 · 1367 employees$1.9Mraised▾
Seed · Houston, Texas · founded 2008 · 1367 employees
Freight forwarder for air, ocean, and road transport
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 64how this company ranks against its industry peers
Innovation
top 20%News
top 31%Partners
top 33%Market
top 43%Product
top 43%Growth
top 44%Innovation: 8 product lines
News: 3 BI events in 12 mo (of 33 tracked, 7 types) · Top themes: Contracts, M&A
Partners: 2 contract events in 12 mo · Named contractor/client in 2 deals · Marquee-customer mentions: top 10% of tracked companies
Audience (LinkedIn): 146k LinkedIn followers — 71.3% of this cohort's audience
Activity (LinkedIn): 2 expansions announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Mar 2010Seed$1.9M
Tech stack
Apple Icloud MailAzureAzure Edge NetworkCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementDocusign
#3
Funding Raised · Houston, Texas · founded 1984 · 170 employees—raised▾
Funding Raised · Houston, Texas · founded 1984 · 170 employees
Provider of freight forwarder and logistics services
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 10k LinkedIn followers — 4.9% of this cohort's audience
Hiring: 6 hiring posts in 12 mo (public) · momentum +6 · hiring: Transportation Brokerage Specialist, Oceans Export Agent
Funding rounds
- 2012Conventional Debt—
Founders & team
Investors
Amegy Bank
Tech stack
6SenseCart FunctionalityCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCore-JsGoogle Ads
Funding & investor landscape
$2.9Mtotal disclosed funding
2companies funded
2disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 641,863 docs
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Freight Forwarders coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
RESEARCH SIGNALS · United States
How research on Logistics & Supply Chain Tech is moving in the United States
A read on the academic research around Logistics & Supply Chain Tech — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 637 United States-affiliated papers.
research sentiment over time
200820172026
enthusiastic · positive · guarded tone
Tone is overwhelmingly optimistic and intensifying — the enthusiastic (strongly-positive) share moved 29% → 41% across 2008–2026.
top research entities
- Purdue University West Lafayette28
- Georgia Institute of Technology21
- National Laboratory of the Rockies20
- Idaho National Laboratory18
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology16
leading researchers
Fengqi You · William Crossley · Stephen Schey · Jim Francfort · Kara M. Kockelman · Dajun Yue · Tao Lin · Luis F. Rodríguez
▲
Breakthroughs113 · 18%
▲ 15%→18% share
▲1.2× share momentum2 median citations50% since 2021mostly methods-led
Breakthroughs are rising (15%→18% of field), led by Fleet management.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Fleet management16→21
- Scalability4→9
- Key (lock)1→6
- Supply chain management1→4
- Automotive engineering1→4
Landmark DeepPool: Distributed Model-Free Algorithm for Ride-Sharing Using Deep Reinforcement Learning · 167 cites
◆
Advancements360 · 57%
▲ 55%→57% share
▲1.0× share momentum3 median citations49% since 2021mostly methods-led
Advancements are rising (55%→57% of field), led by Supply chain management.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Supply chain management5→21
- Scheduling (production processes)8→22
- Sustainability1→11
- Supply chain risk management1→10
- Electric vehicle3→11
Newly emergingAnalytics 0→8 · Big data 0→7 · Battery (electricity) 0→6
Landmark Life Cycle Optimization of Biomass-to-Liquid Supply Chains with Distributed–Centralized Processing Networks · 343 cites
▼
Concerns101 · 16%
▲ 14%→18% share
▲1.3× share momentum1 median citations54% since 2021mostly empirical
Concerns are rising (14%→18% of field), led by Supply chain management.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Supply chain management2→11
- Fleet management16→24
- Transport engineering3→10
- Supply chain optimization4→9
- Sustainability1→5
Newly emergingElectrification 0→9 · Resilience (materials science) 0→6 · Agency (philosophy) 0→6
Landmark Challenges in Scaling Up Biofuels Infrastructure · 312 cites
RESEARCH HOTSPOTS · United States
Where logistics supply chain is researched across United States
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Boston31 · +0.55
Chicago21 · +0.61
Atlanta21 · +0.50
SF Bay Area18 · +0.54
Ann Arbor16 · +0.46
New York10 · +0.34
Austin10 · +0.38
Pittsburgh9 · +0.63
Seattle6 · +0.48
Los Angeles5 · +0.66
PATENT SIGNAL · United States
Who's filing logistics supply chain patents in the United States
United States logistics supply chain patent filing is accelerating — 946 filings from 617 assignees (2016–2025), led by Amsted RAIL, Crown Equip, UBER Technologies; annual filings 68→95.
946 filings617 assigneespeak 140/yr2016–2025
filing momentum (YoY 2016–2025)
top patent filers
- Amsted RAIL93
- Crown Equip69
- UBER Technologies65
- Kochanowski George E49
- Miner Enterprises37
- Bendix Commercial Vehicle System35
- R & L Carriers29
- Strong Force VCN Portfolio 201923
Common questions
How many Freight Forwarders companies are there in Houston, United States?
Radar tracks 62 indexable Freight Forwarders companies headquartered in Houston, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Freight Forwarders companies in Houston, United States?
The Freight Forwarders companies in Houston, United States on this list have raised a combined $2.9M in disclosed equity funding across 2 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Freight Forwarders company in Houston, United States?
Crane Worldwide Logistics is the highest-funded Freight Forwarders company in Houston, United States, with $1.9M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Freight Forwarders companies in Houston, United States are funded?
2 of the 62 Freight Forwarders companies in Houston, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Freight Forwarders unicorns are there in Houston, United States?
None of the Freight Forwarders companies in Houston, United States on this list currently has a disclosed valuation of $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in Houston, United States Freight Forwarders companies?
The most active investors in Houston, United States Freight Forwarders companies on this list include Amegy Bank.
Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.