FourKites
Deal: $13 million Series A
Investors: Bain Capital Ventures led the round, with participation from existing investors Hyde Park Venture Partners, Hyde Park Angels, and Otter.
What they do: FourKites, a logistics platform for trucking and transportation companies, announced that it has raised a $13 million Series A. Founded in 2014, FourKites's software provides companies with real-time load tracking to help improve supply chain efficiency for shippers. With FourKites, shippers, brokers, and carriers can share real-time truck location and shipment status information. Enterprises use FourKites to get arrival times, real-time status updates, and alerts for all their active shipments sent right to their phone.
Other details: FourKites has now raised a total of $16.5 million since it launched. It has provided real-time tracking to more than 2.5 million trucks, and has landed clients like Staples. FourKites said it will use the funding to integrate more data sources into its tracking platform, expand internationally, and cover additional transportation modes. The company also said it plans to add more than 100 new jobs in Chicago in the coming year.
BCV is familiar with logistics startups, having been an early investor in Kiva Systems, an autonomous robots and mobile shelving company for distribution centers that was acquired by Amazon in 2012 for $775 million.
“Logistics is an industry primed for disruption. We are absolutely thrilled to partner with Bain Capital Ventures as we execute on our vision to provide real-time visibility and connectivity across the Logistics industry," Mathew Elenjickal, founder and CEO of FourKites, said in a statement. “Transforming any industry comes with regulatory and execution challenges. There is no one better than BCV and Ajay Agarwal to guide us in executing on our vision and building an iconic company.”
FourKites' funding comes as trucking technology has increasingly been in the news with Uber's acquisition of autonomous truck startup Otto and Elon Musk’s announcement of a Tesla Semi. And FourKites is among several tech companies focused on logistics, including Coyote Logistics, Project44, and Echo Global Logistics.
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