Just weeks after closing a $63 million Series A, Denver’s Fluid Truck has announced a partnership that aligns its mobility solutions with one of the world’s largest furniture retailers.
Earlier this month, Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ikea parent company Ingka Group, invested in Fluid’s Series A and became a minority stakeholder of the company. Ingka Investments’ mission is to back various companies that support the Ikea retail business.
Now, with that investment on board, Fluid has been chosen to power Ikea's electric vehicle delivery fleets in New York City and Los Angeles.
Fluid’s software allows businesses to manage a fleet without the overhead of owning vehicles. The truck-sharing platform offers 24/7 mobile access to a variety of commercial trucks and vans available for pickup in minutes.
The company was selected a year ago by Ikea to be its electric vehicle provider. After liking the ease and convenience of Fluid’s offerings, the Swedish furniture giant has further cemented its partnership.
“We signed a commercial deal with them last year and after they started to work with us, they got pretty excited about what we’re doing and how we’re transforming mobility,” Fluid Truck founder and CEO James Eberhard said.
Ikea is on track to have a fully operational fleet of 40 of Fluid’s electric vehicle last-mile delivery trucks to service all five boroughs of New York City by May. The fleet is currently operating at roughly 35% capacity.
In New York, Fluid’s fleet is comprised of Loveland-based Lightning eMotors Electric Class 4 commercial box trucks and Workhorse C1000 trucks.
“Ikea was looking at us as a partner that could help them take their sustainability goals and put them into action,” Eberhard said.
In Los Angeles, Ikea hopes to have 50 trucks servicing the area as it pushes to become “climate positive” by 2030.
“We’re excited to see such great progress being made in our New York and Los Angeles markets as we will have 45 electric vehicles on the road by the end of May,” Jennifer Keesson, Ikea U.S. country sustainability manager, said in a statement. “We are committed to our EV journey as we strive towards the goal of having all last-mile deliveries with zero emissions by 2025.”
Outside of this Ikea partnership, Fluid’s solution is live in nearly 25 markets across the U.S. and Eberhard said the company hopes to expand nationally this year. The company has about 150 employees and expects that number to grow by about 200 by the end of 2021.
While he couldn’t comment on exact plans for the future, Eberhard said Fluid would be involved with Ikea beyond this initial partnership.
“We’re starting off in New York and LA and electrifying their fleet, and we’re going to help them get electric vehicles in the hands of all of their delivery partners in the U.S.,” he said.
