Image credit: convelio.com

Shipping high value, delicate, and non standard goods such as fine art, antiques, and luxury furniture has traditionally been slow, costly, and fragmented. It often involves manually requesting quotes from multiple intermediaries via calls or emails, leading to delays and inflated pricing. This inefficiency poses a challenge not only to galleries and auction houses but also to maritime logistics, where fragile or valuable items must be transported seamlessly across sea routes. Convelio addresses this by offering an algorithm-driven quoting engine that delivers instant, accurate rates up to 46% cheaper than traditional services and covers packing, insurance, customs, and tracking in one go. Maritime applications benefit because Convelio integrates with freight forwarding processes, optimizing sea freight legs alongside air and land all tailored per item’s dimensions, fragility, and destination. 

Convelio was founded in 2017 in Paris by Edouard Gouin and Clément Ouizille. Both came from e-commerce and logistics backgrounds, Gouin in art and design, and Ouizille in logistics where they encountered firsthand the inefficiencies in fine art transportation. Their combined experience drove them to build a tech centric solution, modernizing an industry deeply rooted in traditional processes. 

Convelio has successfully attracted strong investor backing to fuel its global expansion. In 2020, the company raised around $10 million in Series A funding led by Acton Capital, which enabled it to strengthen its technology and expand internationally. Two years later, in 2022, Convelio closed a Series B round worth €30 million (~$35 million), led by Forestay and Mundi Ventures, with additional participation from the European Investment Fund, Acton Capital, and Global Founders Capital. Convelio is also part of Innoport VC’s portfolio. 

Thanks to its strong backing, Convelio has had significant resources to scale its logistics platform, enhance technological innovation, and secure its position as a global leader in fine-art shipping. Convelio serves over 2,700–3,000 clients in more than 80 countries, including high-profile names like Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips. In 2021, the company handled around 14,000 shipments totaling $265 million in value. This seamless service helps seafarers, shipping managers, and companies by:

• Simplifying end to end logistics, coordinating sea freight legs alongside air/land, packing, customs, and insurance in one digital workflow.
• Providing instant quotes and transparency, empowering efficient planning and decision-making.
• Reducing costs and intermediaries, boosting margins and efficiency for both carriers and clients.

Convelio’s platform employs proprietary algorithms that intake multi-dimensional data dimensions, value, fragility, destination, delivery urgency and automatically constructs the optimal logistics chain. The system connects via APIs to partners across air, land, sea freight, customs, packing, and insurance. Within seconds, users receive quotes, choose options, and complete bookings. After booking, the system automates coordination among suppliers, tracking, billing, and customer updates in real time. This end-to-end digital orchestration significantly reduces turnaround time and manual effort.

In addition to reducing operational burdens and allowing businesses to save up to nearly half the costs compared to traditional methods, Convelio’s scalability and sustainability initiatives, such as climate-conscious shipping programs, also strengthen its appeal in a global market that increasingly values efficiency and environmental responsibility. However, the model is not without challenges: Convelio relies heavily on third party carriers, which means service quality can vary by region, and handling highly unique or fragile items still requires manual oversight that limits full automation. 

That said, the company still has significant up side to expand into emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, where the demand for art, luxury goods, and digitized logistics is growing but infrastructure and logistics services remain fragmented. Establishing strong local partnerships and ensuring seamless integration with maritime and multimodal partners at a global scale will be essential to maintaining high service standards and operational efficiency as Convelio scales its successful model further.

References

Acton Capital. (2022, March 7). Convelio closes $35M Series B to further expand globally. Retrieved from https://www.actoncapital.com/news/convelio-closes-35m-series-b 

Business Insider. (2022, March 7). Fine-art shipping startup Convelio raised $35 million… Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/fine-art-shipping-startup-convelio-35-million-pitch-deck-2022-3

Convelio. (2022, March 6). Convelio accelerates global expansion with €30M investment. Retrieved from https://www.convelio.com/en-us/blog/convelio-accelerates-global-expansion 

Eu-Startups. (2022, March 7). Paris-based Convelio raises €30 million for its fine-art shipping services. Retrieved from https://www.eu-startups.com/2022/03/paris-based-convelio-raises-e30-million 

Forestay. (2022, March 28). Why we invested in Convelio. Retrieved from https://www.forestay.vc/why-we-invested-in-convelio 

Tech.eu. (2022, March 7). Paris startup brushes off $35 million to bring disruptive logistics technology in art and antiques. Retrieved from https://tech.eu/2022/03/07/paris-startup-brushes-off-35-million 

Tracxn. (2025, June 17). Convelio company profile & funding. Retrieved from https://tracxn.com/d/companies/convelio 

Coverager. (2022, March 7). Convelio raises $35 million. Retrieved from https://coverager.com/convelio-raises-35-million