With $63 million in new capital and a partnership with Ikea, Denver truck-sharing startup Fluid Truck is set to grow exponentially in the Centennial State.
Fluid announced on Tuesday that it plans to remain in Colorado and significantly expand its headquarters by 1,483 new jobs.
The news comes about a month after Colorado Economic Development Commission members offered more than $16 million to a then-unnamed company to keep its operations in Colorado.
We now know that the project, nicknamed “Project Flood,” sought to keep Fluid in Colorado as it weighed moving its headquarters to Arizona, Georgia or Idaho.
“We’re proud of home-grown businesses like Fluid Truck who have had great success here in Colorado and choose to continue growing in our great state," Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement. "We hope that they can serve as inspiration to many others who look to do the same. As Fluid Truck creates 1,500 more gold jobs for Coloradans, we know that our highly skilled talent pool and entrepreneurial spirit have helped make it possible,”
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 launched in 2016, has grown to more than 30 markets across the U.S. and recently raised a $63 million Series A funding round led by Bison Capital, with participation from Ingka Investments, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas and others.
“We are excited to continue to build Fluid here in Denver. We believe Colorado has all the elements to create big companies outside of the coast and look forward to helping grow the next wave of technology leaders and innovators,” said Fluid founder and CEO James Eberhard in a statement.
As part of the announcement, Fluid Truck anticipates creating up to 1,483 net new full-time jobs with an average annual wage of $163,677 over the next eight years.
These jobs would spread across all major functions including finance, management, administration and engineering.
“Fluid Truck’s expansion will continue to fuel Denver’s economy through good quality jobs and investment,” Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock said in a statement. “There’s a sense of pride for us all in seeing local startups form, expand, and continue choosing Denver as their home.”
In late March, Fluid was chosen to power Ikea's electric vehicle delivery fleets in New York City and Los Angeles. At the time of that announcement, Ikea said it was 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.
At that time, the company had about 150 employees and Eberhard expected that number to grow by about 200 by the end of 2021.
