The power of connection

Logistics and shipping are incredibly complex industries, where even a single misplaced shipment can result in millions of dollars in losses. Catena Clearing is carving out a unique space by addressing a longstanding issue: fragmented data systems and hidden pockets of information within the supply chain.

Founded by Jeremy Baksht, Travis May, and Mike Goynes, Catena Clearing is tackling the challenge of interoperability between shippers and carriers, aiming to eliminate blind spots and improve transparency across the supply chain.

“We were inspired by my time as the head of data strategy at Walmart Data Ventures,” Baksht shares. “Time and again, we recognized a critical need: the shipper sending goods and the carrier transporting them must have better interoperability. That’s the problem we’re solving at Catena.”

Surprising blind spots - and an increase in cargo theft

Despite the widespread belief that modern supply chains track everything with precision, significant blind spots remain. Jeremy Baksht underscores this with a startling statistic: 

“In the first half of 2024, cargo theft incidents increased by 49% year over year, with the average loss per incident exceeding $100,000.

Cargo theft isn’t just about lost inventory—it disrupts entire supply chains, causing delays, escalating costs, and straining relationships between suppliers and retailers. To combat this, Catena integrates data from companies like Overhaul, described by Baksht as “the ADT for intermodal shipping.” This integration enables Catena to trigger alerts within enterprise systems when potential theft is detected, allowing businesses to respond swiftly and mitigate disruptions before they escalate.

These discrepancies can lead to substantial financial losses for retailers and suppliers alike.

The launch of Telematics 

To solve these issues, Catena launched Catena Telematics, a universal API platform designed to simplify data access and integration for shippers, logistics providers, fleet operators, and insurance carriers. With over 60 integrations in one the platform reduces the blind spots by providing access to data from 10+ million vehicles, addressing critical industry challenges like data fragmentation and inaccessibility. 

Data Integration: The Key to Supply Chain Resilience

Catena Clearing’s approach extends far beyond merely transferring data—it’s about building a flexible infrastructure layer that adapts to the unique demands of various industries and use cases.

“We’re essentially many-to-many data pipelines,” explains Jeremy Baksht. “Whenever we encounter a many-to-many problem, we leverage our translation, transformation, and input gateway capabilities to provide a tailored solution.”

This adaptability enables Catena to address a wide range of challenges, from tracking farm inventories to streamline restaurant supply chains, to ensuring carrier identity compliance for trucking companies. By focusing on flexibility and scalability, Catena positions itself as a critical enabler across diverse sectors.

Looking Ahead: Consumption-Based Models and Scalability

As Catena Clearing continues to expand, the company is evolving its business model to align with client needs. Jeremy Baksht highlights a growing preference for consumption-based pricing:

“Clients love consumption-based models. For one particular situation, we’re charging a small implementation fee and then adding farms incrementally—charging per farm, per month.”

This flexible approach enables clients to scale their usage seamlessly, expanding from hundreds to potentially thousands of connected nodes over time.

Despite doom and gloom headlines and talk of isolationism, the world today is more interconnected than it has ever been. Catena Clearing is demonstrating that the most valuable cargo is often the data itself. By bridging gaps between fragmented systems and shedding light on hidden pools of information, Catena is helping to build more resilient and efficient supply chains, capable of meeting the challenges of an increasingly complex global economy.