What AELER Technologies does

AELER Technologies SA is a Swiss logistics-technology company that has redesigned the standard intermodal shipping container for the modern era. Founded in 2018 and headquartered at the EPFL Innovation Park in Lausanne, AELER produces the Unit One, a 20-foot smart container built from advanced composite materials with 65% stronger walls than standard steel, native 3x-better insulation, and integrated IoT sensors that transmit temperature, humidity, luminosity, door-open, accelerometer, and GPS data every 15 minutes. The Control Tower software platform aggregates sensor data with AIS vessel positions and carrier APIs to deliver predictive ETAs, threshold-based anomaly alerts, automated CO2 emissions calculations, and third-party shipment sharing via API or link.

The company monetizes primarily through a Container-as-a-Service (CaaS) subscription model, in which enterprise customers rent Unit One containers through AELER or a freight-forwarder partner network spanning 26+ countries and 90+ depots, with AELER handling maintenance, repairs, and Casco insurance. Target verticals include bulk liquid transport (latex, chemicals, food-grade liquids), pharmaceuticals, luxury and high-value goods, beverages, and consumer goods, with named reference customers including Procter & Gamble and Trinseo. Pricing is quote-based on multi-year contracts and not publicly disclosed.

AELER raised approximately CHF 8.9 million in cumulative funding through a March 2022 Pre-Series A round (CHF 7M, ~US$7.5M) from AA Sons, Decisive, MaC Venture Capital, Tiger8, and Virtual Network, plus earlier seed tranches and grants. The company employs 51-100 staff across offices in Lausanne, Porto, and Hamburg, and holds CSC and ISO certifications for its containers with CE certification in progress. The company has also issued a CHF-denominated bond (AELER 7.125% CHF 2027), indicating exploration of non-dilutive financing to support fleet expansion.

Name

AELER Technologies

Legal name

AELER Technologies SA

Website

https://aeler.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

AELER Technologies is a Swiss logistics-technology company that designs and operates the Unit One smart shipping container — a composite 20-foot container with integrated IoT sensors — delivered through a Container-as-a-Service subscription model for enterprise customers shipping bulk liquids, pharmaceuticals, luxury goods, and temperature-sensitive cargo worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Smart Shipping Containers

NAICS

Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451), Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Electronic & Other Electrical Equipment (No Computer Equip) (3600)

akta.pro primary industry

Ocean Container Visibility (Vessel, Container, Demurrage/Detention) (TLAEADAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Real-Time Shipment Tracking & Map Visualization (TLAEADAA), Refrigeration unit (reefer) telematics & controller integration sensors (TLAEALAG)

Keywords

• Smart shipping containers
• Container logistics
• IoT cargo tracking
• Composite materials manufacturing
• Container subscription services

Headquarters

HQ city

Lausanne

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Container as a Service (CaaS): AELER operates a Container as a Service subscription model where customers pay for container usage rather than purchasing containers. Customers book containers, pick them up from global depots, use them for shipping, and return them. AELER handles maintenance, repairs, and Casco insurance. The service is available directly through AELER or through freight forwarders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

AELER Technologies manufactures and supplies Unit One, a 20-foot smart shipping container built from advanced composite materials with integrated IoT sensors and native insulation. The company also operates the Control Tower digital platform for real-time cargo visibility and predictive ETAs, delivering both hardware and software through a Container as a Service (CaaS) subscription model covering maintenance, repairs, and Casco insurance.

Product overview

AELER Technologies offers a dual-product smart shipping container ecosystem centered on the Unit One container hardware and Control Tower software platform, delivered through a Container as a Service (CaaS) subscription model. The Unit One is a next-generation 20-foot intermodal container made from advanced composite materials with integrated IoT sensors, native insulation (3x better than standard steel), and 65% stronger walls enabling up to 28 tons bulk liquid payload. The Control Tower platform provides real-time multimodal visibility, predictive ETAs using AI, automated alerts for cargo health deviations, and CO2 emissions tracking. Together, these products enable smarter, more sustainable, and cost-effective logistics for bulk liquids, sensitive cargo, and high-value goods.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Unit One: Smart shipping container made from advanced composite materials with native insulation and integrated IoT sensors for real-time tracking and monitoring
• Control Tower
• Container As A Service (CaaS)

Products and services

• Unit One A 20-foot smart shipping container made from advanced composite materials with integrated IoT sensors and native insulation. Features 65% stronger walls than standard steel containers, enabling safe transport of up to 28 tons of bulk liquid payload without bulging, 3x better insulation than standard containers, and real-time cargo monitoring for temperature, humidity, position, door openings, and impacts. Designed for bulk liquids, sensitive cargo, and high-value goods across pharmaceutical, luxury, FMCG, and chemical industries.
• Control Tower A proprietary digital all-in-one platform providing real-time visibility and monitoring for AELER containers. Aggregates data from integrated IoT sensors, AIS vessel position data, and carrier APIs to offer comprehensive shipment tracking, AI-powered predictive ETAs, threshold alerts, CO2 emissions calculations, and third-party data sharing capabilities via unique links. Includes an API integration capability for receiving sensor alerts and predictive ETAs directly on customers' own tracking platforms.
• Container as a Service (CaaS) A flexible subscription-based container rental model providing access to Unit One smart containers without capital expenditure. Includes access to the Control Tower platform for tracking and monitoring, with containers available through 90+ global depots in 26+ countries. AELER handles maintenance, repairs, and Casco insurance as part of the subscription. Customers can book containers directly through AELER or through freight forwarder partners.

Quantifiable outcome

• 17% additional payload capacity (up to 28 tons of bulk liquid)
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• NA VEXcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPortuguese shipping agent NAVEX markets the AELER composite smart container in Portugal and the Cape Verde Islands, extending AELER's presence in these regions.
• LEMANcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership with LEMAN, a logistics provider known for comprehensive solutions including truck transportation, warehousing, and value-added services, to strengthen logistics and sustainability efforts.
• Smart Freight CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAELER is part of the Smart Freight Centre and participated in their Best Practice Sharing Sessions webinar discussing container innovation for sustainability. AELER's CO2 savings calculations are being validated against the GLEC-Framework.
• Procter & GamblemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerP&G collaborated with AELER on bulk liquid logistics optimization. Sergio Barbarino, Founder of P&G's Logistics R&D unit, serves as an advisor and promotes AELER's container innovation at industry events.
• Independent LCA ExpertssupportingOthersAELER's CO2 savings calculations were validated by three independent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and sustainability experts: Dr Petros Dimitriou Christidis, Dr Jeremy Rodrigues from dss+, and an LCA expert from HES-SO/EPFL.
• DSS+supportingOthersDSS+ provided independent validation of AELER's CO2 savings calculations and methodology. Dr Jeremy Rodrigues from dss+ is a senior consultant specialized in LCA.
• Dr Petros Dimitriou ChristidissupportingOthersIndependent expert in environmental, sustainability technology and LCA who validated AELER's CO2 savings calculations methodology.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Nexxiot: Swiss-headquartered provider of IoT-based container and railcar tracking with a cloud platform for fleet visibility and predictive analytics — directly comparable to AELER's Control Tower plus IoT sensor stack, though Nexxiot focuses on retrofit rather than composite-native containers.
• Traxens: France-based IoT smart-container company offering geolocation, condition monitoring, and a cloud platform for intermodal containers — competes head-on with AELER in container visibility and sensor-enabled supply chain analytics for ocean and inland shipping.
• Globe Tracker: Provider of smart-container IoT devices, tracking platforms, and reefer monitoring solutions for shipping lines and lessors — direct competitor in the ocean container visibility and condition-monitoring segment AELER targets.

Broad incumbents

• project44: Major supply chain visibility platform with multimodal tracking and predictive ETA capabilities — broader incumbent in the freight visibility space, competing with AELER's Control Tower on the software layer though without composite container hardware.
• FourKites: Established real-time transportation visibility platform covering ocean, road, rail, and air — competes with Control Tower on multimodal ETA prediction and shipment monitoring, without owning container hardware.
• CIMC: World's largest manufacturer of intermodal shipping containers and a major logistics equipment supplier — represents the entrenched incumbent whose scale and depot relationships AELER must compete against to scale Unit One.
• Triton Container International: One of the largest container lessors globally, operating a deep fleet across dry, reefer, and special-purpose containers — a direct CaaS competitor in container leasing with much greater fleet scale and balance sheet capacity than AELER.
• Maersk: Global integrated container logistics company and major ocean carrier — incumbent across shipping, depot operations, and increasingly digital supply chain visibility, representing both a potential channel partner and competitive threat to AELER.

Emerging players

• Sensitech (Carrier Global): Provider of cold-chain visibility and temperature monitoring solutions for life sciences and food logistics — overlapping with AELER's temperature and humidity monitoring for pharma and F&B customers, but focused on retrofitted sensors rather than composite-native hardware.
• Braid Industries: Provider of asset-light flexitank and bulk-liquid container solutions including smart monitoring — comparable to AELER in addressing bulk-liquid shippers with digital and operational improvements, though without composite container manufacturing.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aelertech
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aeler

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AELER Technologies