Chicago startup project44 just raised another big round of funding to grow its logistics tech platform.
project44 announced Monday that it has raised $45 million in new capital led by Silicon Valley VC firm Sapphire Ventures. Other backers include Insight Venture Partners, along with existing investors 8VC, Chicago Ventures, Emergence Capital, Omidyar Technology Ventures, OpenView Venture Partners and Pritzker Group Venture Capital. project44 has raised more than $90 million to date.
Launched in 2014, project44 provides software to shippers and third-party logistics firms to help them track their shipments and communicate with the supply chain in real time. With project44's technology, companies can bring an "Amazon-like" shipping experience to their customers by improving logistics efficiencies and reducing costs, project44 says. Its customers include FedEx, GE Transportation and Uline.
“p44 is bringing to the shipping and logistics space what Stripe brought to payments, Twilio brought to communications, and Mulesoft brought to SaaS applications," Kevin Diestel, partner at Sapphire Ventures, said in a statement.
project44 is one of Chicago's fastest-growing startups, and this year crossed over the 100 employee mark. The company announced in April that it planned to add 200 Chicago jobs.
Monday's funding news is the second large VC raise the company has announced this year. It raised $35 million in April in a round led by OpenView.
Logistics has been a particularly hot space for Chicago startups in recent years. Trucking logistics startup FourKites raised $35 million in February, and last month e-commerce logistics startup Shipbob raised $40 million.
project44 said it will use the funding to support new product initiatives and expand internationally.
