Startups

Dan Crain profiles the important Newark, New Jersey logistics hub, as well as some of the logistics startups in the area.

Chinese warehousing robotics startup Geek+ is the most funded startup in the world in its segment.

Nikola Corp. founder and Executive Ehairman Trevor Milton says he is justified in threatening on Twitter to sue a reporter he accuses of lying about the startup electric truck maker to drive down its high-flying stock price.

CEO of on-demand driver platform talks about changing the face of trucking entrepreneurship

GoFor Industries closes on C$9.8 million seed round as it aims to expand its on-demand delivery platform for construction industry into more North American cities.

BackboneAI relies on real-time data synchronization to empower vendors to optimize their product flow to customers.

An investor talks about overcoming pattern recognition bias in venture capital

Beacon is a UK-based digital freight forwarder – one of many that have vowed to disrupt the freight forwarding industry.

The investment round was led by OGCI Climate Investments, a $1 billion+ fund that invests in solutions to decarbonize commercial transport.

Startup raises $11M in Series A round

Trevor Milton takes a $1 annual salary as CEO of newly public Nikola Corp., but his net worth on paper is approaching deca-billionaire status based on his 35% share of the battery electric and fuel cell truck startup’s shares.

Surging shares in electric Class 8 truck maker Nikola Corp. could help show the way for other high-tech transportation companies this year.

Berlin- and Paris-based startups are merging to become one of the largest digital trucking freight forwarding platforms in Europe.

Locus Robotics now has raised more than $100 million.

Digital freight forwarding startup Beacon raises $15 million in Series A investment.

Battery electric and fuel cell startup Nikola Corp., which surprised the trucking industry by having a “blank check company” back its bid to go public, expects its shares to begin trading under its own name on the NASDAQ later this week.

Until now, autonomous vehicle company Nuro had focused on food delivery

“A lot of those small trucking companies, they’ll come back.”

Wunder Mobility launches new offering that will make the company an all-in-one mobility solutions platform.

Amazon is looking to acquire self-driving technology startup Zoox, with talks being underway between the two companies.

Wallbox, a smart EV charging company headquartered in Spain, closes second round of series A funding as it expands into the United States

Futuristic mobility company HyperloopTT uses virtual collaboration platform Workplace to seamlessly connect all of its spread-out employees.

Workflow automation technology company RPA Labs has landed its first round of capital, netting $1.2 million in a pre-seed round. Schematic Ventures led the round, along with PSA UnBoxed (Port of Singapore) and other senior supply chain executives.  RPA Labs is brand-new, having come out of stealth during the fall of 2019. The executive team […]

Charley Dehoney spoke with the founder of BasicBlock, a blockchain startup based in Nebraska. Here is the story of the company’s success to-date.

EKA Solutions builds ecosystem for small and medium-size brokers, carriers and shippers

With a June 2 merger vote that would make fuel cell electric truck maker Nikola a public entity, the company’s book value has quadrupled to $12 billion in the last week.

A $750 million external investment this week comes as an extension to Waymo’s $2.25 billion financing earlier in March.

The world of transportation has changed due to COVID-19. Read about how shipping professionals are adapting to those changes.

Inadequate cybersecurity will allow attackers to hack into railway systems and stop trains, causing massive disruption to freight movement.

Continental customers will switch from using the RoadLog ELD to KeepTruckin ELD solutions.

In a transformational partnership for a growth-stage company, Platform Science will embed connectivity software at the factory in Daimler Trucks beginning in 2021.

Magnus Technologies offers a solution that can run the entirety of a trucking fleet’s business operations over a single platform.

The new tracking system allows real-time monitoring of transported goods across a variety of markets including food & beverage, pharmaceuticals and micro-mobility.

Ford has invested $500 million in Rivian and participated in the startup’s $1.3 billion investment raise in 2019.

Charging-as-a-service startup AMPLY Power raised $13.2 million from institutional investors Soros Fund Management and Siemens USA as it expands electric infrastructure management to commercial trucking from transit buses

The COVID-19 pandemic has created the need for social distancing, even while working. For the freight industry, the adoption of autonomous vehicles might be a good start.

Frayt, a Cincinnati-based tech startup, expands service to address uptick in home deliveries

Brian Aoaeh interviews CEOs of several supply chain tech startups about their status during the pandemic.

Electric and fuel cell truck maker Nikola gets its pick of candidates as job insecurity led so many to apply that Linked In briefly shut down CEO Trevor Milton’s account.

Paul Schlegel writes about the future of autonomous vehicles – particularly autonomous trucks.

KeepTruckin introduces Maintenance Reminders, a tool that helps companies avoid unscheduled vehicle downtimes.

The investment will help accelerate product development of its next generation SmartTags and scale up operations across both sales and marketing.

Businesses around the world are being affected by the pandemic. Among the hardest hit are startups. Brian Aoaeh offers advice for tech startups in the supply chain space.

Cargo X is Brazil’s largest digital freight marketplace, connecting about 20,000 carriers and their 400,000 truckers with freight.

Shippo is a next-generation shipping platform for ecommerce businesses, helping them provide their end consumers with an exceptional shipping experience.

In the times of COVID-19, logistics companies are stepping up to help the industry in ways they can.

VC funding has evaporated, wooing new customers is extremely difficult and existing customers’ focus has changed.

The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of FreightWaves or its affiliates.  There are certain markets that the average person doesn’t think about often, not until thinking about them is a matter of life and death. Today, I am highlighting one such market – the […]

RoadSync is a digital payment platform offering services that help solve inconsistencies within paper-based invoicing processes in the freight industry.

Wingcopter is a German-based startup that manufactures drones that attain maximum speeds of 150 mph with a 75-mile range.

KlearNow is an on-demand customs clearance platform that helps companies navigate customs by leveraging AI technology.

The micromobility segment has arisen as an alternative transit option across major cities, and companies in the segment will need to be tactical in their approach to profitability.

LoadStop provides a TMS solution that has a built-in compliance manager and an autonomous dispatcher that helps fleets find best-match loads in the spot market.

For fleets that run throughout the day and need high utilization, hydrogen fuel cells offer great value for investment, while also creating zero emissions.

Uber Works helps temporary workers connect directly with companies posting jobs via its digital marketplace and ensures workers get paid without delay.

Drones can speed up delivery times dramatically, but for the technology to be commercialized, a number of regulatory hurdles need to be cleared.

Supply chains are a major source of carbon emissions. Switching to alternative fuel powertrains and improving equipment utilization levels can help reduce footprint.

Spin works with local governments to receive permits for using e-scooter shared mobility across city streets, rather than aggressive expansion by flouting city rules.

CarrierHQ introduces a new portal that helps owner-operators and small fleets gain authority in the market by providing them services to get started and run successful businesses.

By providing leases that include hydrogen and maintenance for its fuel cell electric trucks for seven years, Nikola projects it will generate $3 billion in revenue by 2024.

Texas-based TUYA has built a platform that helps B2B’s have real-time visibility over their product movement as they work with delivery companies.

After shunning public ownership, fuel cell truck startup Nikola watched as the WeWork debacle made private fundraising harder. Its merger with VectoIQ brings in about $700 million to help pay to build Nikola’s Class 8 truck plant and the beginning of a hydrogen fuel station network.

OneRail is a last-mile orchestration and fulfillment platform that consolidates the needs of shippers and retailers onto a single platform.

A skeleton crew remains after autonomous trucking startup Starsky Robotics fails to find a buyer or new investors, according to a former executive.

Digital freight matching has turned a corner in the marketplace.

Electriphi provides solutions for vehicle electrification and has developed a charging and operations management platform that is built over open standards.

The mission is to make the yard environment cleaner and more efficient, Outrider CEO says.

Apex.AI is an autonomous driving startup that builds software on the Robot Operating System (ROS), bringing improved safety to vehicles.

FreightRoll is a trade documentation and tracking platform that enables companies to digitalize paper documents from their freight operations.

Sendengo is a digital freight brokerage that enables users to control transactions and helps reduce cargo theft.

U.S. DOT green lights Nuro with first ever autonomous vehicle exemption

CloudTrucks provides a back-office service aimed at putting more money in drivers’ pockets

The startup plans to triple its team size by the end of 2020.

Data analytics startup ClearMetal pioneers continuous delivery experience (CDX) that enables logistics stakeholders to optimize supply chains and improve customer experience.

Eight-year-old company working with storied shipping group to make indices available for financial products

Startup XStream Trucking is in early talks with two major truck manufacturers about its aerodynamic drag-reducing TruckWings, but its first distribution deal makes them optional on compressed natural gas conversions by Agility Fuel Solutions.

Emerge​, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based digital freight marketplace, announced Tuesday it has closed a $20 million Series A financing led by NewRoad Capital Partners, a growth equity capital firm based in Rogers, Arkansas. The round also includes Greycroft and 9Yards Capital, among other investors. With the latest round of funding, the company plans to expand its […]

Kayla Matthews writes about options if you are interested in starting your own trucking company.

Electronic gadgets like smartphones in the cab lead to driver distraction, and driver assistance technologies like ADAS appear to add a new dimension to that behavior.

Brian Aoaeh writes about the challenges and opportunities of logistics in Africa – and what will likely occur in the next few years.

California-based electric air taxi startup Joby Aviation has raised $590 million in its Series C financing round.

Digital business-to-business freight marketplaceTrella helps reduce costs by automating logistics processes.

Happy top of the weekend! Thanks for making us a part of the backhaul of your week, and boy do we have some news for you. First, we hit the headlines: Applying the restrictions of AB5 in California to the trucking industry runs afoul of federal law, according to a court case just handed down. […]

With companies like Convoy achieving a $1 billion valuation in roughly four years, or publicly-traded companies like Uber and Amazon encroaching on the brokerage space, it is getting harder for the smaller, “relationship-based” brokers to compete. Whether it’s managed transportation, trailer pooling, warehousing or last-mile, brokers should be looking for ways to increase their value, […]

The interior of the Nikola Two semi-tractor takes cues from modern airplane cockpits.

Email and spreadsheets still coin of supply chain realm, but startup sees cloud-based future.

E-scooter startup Lime is stopping operations in a dozen cities across the world and laying off 14% of its workforce.

Businesses today are looking to make last-mile deliveries as flexible as possible to ensure high-quality customer experience.

HERE Mobility has over 700 supply and demand partners active on its mobility marketplace across 100 major cities in the world.

The autonomous trucking technology startup uses its bench of knowledgeable founders to develop tools to enhance trucking operations.

Former Amazon employees turbocharge Seattle freight-tech scene.

As business velocity accelerates, Shipwell provides the tools to keep pace.

Smart Drayage platform aims to automate the largely manual processes of container retrieval.

Tactile Mobility will provide access to over 10 terabytes of tactile data across more than 10 million km of public roads globally on the HERE Marketplace.

For many people around the world, celebrating the holidays involves sharing food with family and friends. As we approach the holidays to celebrate the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, it occurred to me that it would be good to spend some time examining what startups are doing to try to solve the […]

Locix helps digitize physical spaces and provides real-time visibility to help businesses optimize logistics operations.

U.K.-based drone technology startup Skyports operates across London, Los Angeles and Singapore today and plans to be a leader in urban aerial mobility.

Urban spaces are now seeing a trend where commuters are seeing sense in moving away from the concept of owning a vehicle for transit to picturing mobility as a service.

ArcherHub runs its own fleet that it uses as a backup for loads that go uncovered on its digital freight marketplace and thus guarantees hauls for every shipper.

The Swedish truck giant’s venture capital arm has invested an undisclosed sum in Autotech Ventures.