Jacksonville-based transportation Crowley Maritime Corp. has invested in an Alabama logistics tech firm whose technology platform is designed to let companies share or lease their assets like trailers and chassises with other companies.
The company, Repowr, was founded in 2019. Its platform aims to provide logistics companies with data and analytics that help them reduce underutilized assets, which they say could have a positive impact both on the firms' bottom line and the environment.
"We are excited to partner with Repowr to integrate our asset network with others on the platform to create sustainable solutions for our customers," Crowley CEO Tom Crowley said in a statement. "Our investment in Repowr advances Crowley’s commitment to sustainability and further solidifies innovation as part of our strategic growth. This collaboration is a significant step towards the future of sustainable and efficient logistics.”
The details of the investment were not revealed.
Repowr most recently raised more than $6.8 million dollars from undisclosed investors, according to a March 28 Form D filing with the Securities and Exchange Commissions.
Previously, Repowr completed a seed round totaling more than $4.2 million in March 2022 lead by Koch Disruptive Technologies, Plug and Play and Perot Jain. Repowr has raised at least $11.5 million in funding over the course of four rounds, according to Crunchbase, a database that tracks venture capital and startup investments.
Crowley's investment will enable Repowr to accelerate the diversification and expansion of its asset-sharing model, the company said, with the tech firm looking to help international logistics businesses share assets as easily as domestic companies.
The partnership also enables Crowley to explore new network opportunities by leveraging Repowr's platform and expertise, according to the statement.
The two companies recently completed a successful pilot where Crowley used the Repowr platform to rebalance chassis pools across its network while generating revenue and strengthening relationships with carrier partners as well as increasing network efficiencies and asset utilization, the company said.
"As a young company, we are thrilled to partner with a company that has led our industry with such impressive class and innovation for well over a century," Repowr CEO Patrick Visintainer said. “Our early success with Crowley is a wonderful springboard to further network optimization, and we look forward to helping them and other companies with whom they network with on the Repowr platform to realize maximum asset utilization."
