An investment arm of Wichita-based Koch Industries Inc. has backed a California company specializing in autonomous trucks.
Palo Alto-based Gatik on Tuesday announced that it has raised $85 million in a Series B funding round that was led by Koch Disruptive Technologies.
The company is now commercializing robotic box trucks, with the funding coinciding with the launch of operations in Texas that add to existing partnerships like one with Walmart in Louisiana.
“The logistics industry is experiencing unprecedented disruption driven by the explosive growth of e-commerce, and demand for more efficient goods movement,” Chase Koch, president of Koch Disruptive Technologies, says in a press release. “Nowhere is this more pronounced than on the Middle Mile. Gatik’s transformational autonomous technology and world-class team are defining the standard in B2B short-haul logistics by addressing the most prominent issues facing today’s supply chain. We believe Gatik will be the first to commercialize autonomous technology at scale for the North American medium-duty trucking market.”
The Series B round brings the total amount that Gatik has raised to $114.5 million. Other investors in the company include Endeavors, Wittington Ventures, FM Capital, Dynamo Ventures, Trucks VC and Intact Ventures.
“With our exclusive focus on structured autonomy, we have unlocked lower costs, shorter delivery times, and sustainable, reliable capacity for our customers today,” says Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder of Gatik. “Our long-term partnerships with the world’s largest retailers, strategic relationships with OEMs and fleet servicing & maintenance partners have allowed us to address critical supply chain challenges and build an industry-defining business. With this financing, we are ideally positioned to commercialize our solution at scale.”
The funding continues more than $30 billion in technology-related investments by Koch companies in recent years, including those coming from the KDT division since its founding in 2017.
KDT was one of multiple Koch companies rolled last year under the umbrella of Koch Investments Group.
