A Nebraska startup wants a piece of Chicago's growing logistics-tech industry after landing almost $80 million in fresh funding.
BasicBlock, a fintech startup that provides financing options for truck drivers, is planning to open a Chicago office after raising $78 million in equity and debt.
Its backers include Autotech Ventures, Clear Haven Capital Management, Emergent Ventures, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, SaaS Ventures and TNT Ventures.
The startup says it plans to hire between 20 and 30 employees for its Chicago outpost, the location of which has not been finalized.
Founded in 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska, BasicBlock launched as a document capture tool for truck drivers, allowing them to easily scan and send load documents.
It has since evolved into a payment platform for carriers that provides capital to drivers. Access to capital is one of the biggest pain points for smaller fleets, the company says, who can struggle to secure financing through traditional banks.
BasicBlock comes to Chicago amid a boom in logistic tech activity in the Windy City. Anchored by fast-growing startups like project44 and FourKites, Chicago is also home to venture-backed logistics upstarts like MVMT, Forager and others.
Coyote Logistics, a logistics tech startup led by Jeff Silver, was acquired by UPS in 2015. And Echo Global Logistics, a company founded by Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, was just acquired last year by the Jordan Company in a $1.3 billion deal.
