Irish startup Axe lands €1.5 million to supercharge logistics teams with AI agents

Dublin-based Axe, an AI startup building autonomous agents for logistics teams, announces its public launch today, alongside the successful raising of €1.5 million in pre-Seed funding.

The round was led by Pitchdrive, with participation from Accel Scouts, Enterprise Ireland, and strategic angel investors including Colm Long (Google, Tines) and Colm Lyons (Realex, Fire).

“Logistics is the backbone of the global economy, yet it still runs on billions of emails, spreadsheets, and phone calls,” says Co-founder and CEO James McElroy. “Our AI agents act as digital teammates, automating repetitive tasks to free up teams for higher-impact work. As margins tighten due to global tariffs, AI provides a crucial advantage by unlocking efficiency and cost savings.”

Founded in 2024 by James McElroy (CEO) and Dan Quill (CTO), Axe builds AI agents that “work like teammates” for logistics operators—logging into systems, making calls, sending emails, and coordinating tasks end to end. These agents reportedly execute full workflows and adapt in real time, cutting through back-office chaos.

One of the AI Agents’ main attractions, according to the company, is the ability to book loads, resolve issues, and keep shipments on track without having to add headcount.

McElroy previously Co-founded Gudog, an EU pet services marketplace acquired by Blackstone earlier this year following its €2.2 billion acquisition of U.S.-based Rover. Previous to this he held roles at document logistics company Oasis. Quill previously served as founding CTO at Peblo, acquired by unicorn FinTech Wayflyer in 2023, and has held engineering roles at FinTech leader iwoca.

“We backed Axe because they’re tackling one of the most painful and outdated workflows in a $10 trillion industry—with a team that knows how to ship fast, build real AI, and sell into logistics. James and Dan have done this before, and they’re building exactly what freight teams have been crying out for: AI agents that actually get things done,” added Koen Christiaens, Partner at Pitchdrive

According to Axe, freight carriers and brokers handle thousands of calls and emails each week; repetitive and time-consuming tasks. Axe’s AI agents take over these repetitive tasks like order entry, quoting, scheduling, and even making phone calls to drivers, freeing up teams to focus on higher-value, more complex work.

Axe is already working with several logistics companies and reportedly saving them as much as two hours per person per day, improving productivity and customer responsiveness.

The funding will accelerate Axe’s product development, grow its engineering and customer success teams, and support expansion into the U.S. market. The company currently operates from Dublin and London, with plans to open its first U.S. office later this year.

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