After two years in stealth, a Colorado-based startup building autonomous solutions for distribution yards has emerged with $53 million in funding and some major industry partners.
Golden’s Outrider debuted Wednesday, touting the new seed and series A funding led by NEA and 8VC, respectively.
The goal of distribution yards is to keep semi-trailers full of freight moving quickly in the space between the warehouse doors and public roads. However, many of the processes that make up yard operations are manual, inefficient, and hazardous.
“The goal in distribution yards is to keep goods moving quickly from inside warehouses to and from the road,” founder and CEO Andrew Smith told Colorado Inno. “The problem is that the majority of yard operations are almost entirely manual and inefficient. This is the problem we are solving through automation.”
Outrider automates the repetitive, manual aspects of yard operations, including moving trailers around the yard, moving trailers to and from loading docks, hitching and unhitching trailers, connecting and disconnecting trailer brake lines and monitoring trailer locations.
“The Outrider System is an integrated solution with three key components: web-based management software, site infrastructure that facilitates the safe movement of autonomous vehicles, and automated electric yard trucks outfitted with specialized software, sensors and vision-based robotics to drive by themselves in the yard,” Smith said. “Our technology allows distribution yards to be more efficient, safer, and more sustainable.”
Outrider is already in pilot programs with Georgia-Pacific and four Fortune 200 companies in designated sections of their distribution yards.
The company chose Golden due to a core group of autonomous vehicle engineers being located here, in addition to its proximity to distribution yards and the ideal environment for recruiting purposes.
“The benefits of growing the company in Colorado is the incredible pool of product development talent and a desirable place to live,” Smith said. “Many of our employees enjoy all the outdoor activities that Colorado has to offer. We have hiking, mountain biking, and rock climbing right outside our doorstep.”
Outrider has grown from 19 to more than 75 employees in the last 12 months, with plans to grow “substantially” over the next 12 months.
On the company’s growth plans, Smith was direct.
“Outrider is laser-focused on automating yard operations, which is a multi-billion dollar opportunity,” he said.
