FreightWaves unveiled the winners of its 2024 FreightTech 25 awards on the final day of the F3: Future of Freight Festival. This sixth iteration of the award series was full of surprises.
The 2024 list honors industry veterans and newcomers that have found a way to hang on in one of the most difficult environments for technology companies in recent memory. In light of that, this year’s edition is probably best defined as a shake-up.
Seventeen companies are newcomers. Meanwhile, many previous mainstays fell off the list entirely. Amazon Freight (1), FourKites (12) and J.B. Hunt (15) are now the only companies that have appeared on every FreightTech 25 list.
FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller, Senior Meteorologist Kaylee Nix and HHM Senior Accountant Becca Denison presented the awards Thursday. Fuller noted several times just how unusual it was to see so many changes over a single year.
“This was the most disrupted list I’ve ever seen,” Fuller said. “If you think about the venture cycle from 2015 to 2022 in freight for that first stage, we’re largely past that. What’s interesting about this list is how different it is than past years. A lot of new names — and a lot of names that have been on the list for many years did not make the list this year.”
These 25 winners were chosen independently of FreightWaves. They were selected by scores of CEOs, industry leaders, academics and investors from the 2024 FreightTech 100. (Click here for the list of voters.)
Chattanooga, Tennessee-based accounting and auditing firm HHM administered the vote. A simple points system, based on voters’ rankings, determined the FreightTech 25. A company scored 25 points for each first-place vote, with descending points through to the 25th place, which received one point. The companies were then ranked by their total points.
This scoring method mirrors that of the USA Today Sports College Football Coaches Poll, The Associated Press Pro32 rankings and the AP Top 25 for college basketball.
The FreightTech 25 recognizes the most innovative and disruptive companies in the freight technology sector. This list is a special testament to resilience, as FreightTech startups have faced a funding squeeze over the past 12 months, compounded by Federal Reserve rate hikes that have tightened credit and recalibrated investor expectations.
Venture capital, once abundant, is now meting out funds more conservatively, with investors like Chris Stallman from Fontinalis Partners acknowledging a likely continuation of this trend into 2024.
The economic belt-tightening in 2023 has not only pushed valuations lower but also imposed stringent performance metrics for companies in their nascent stages. The sector’s valuation contraction is stark, with revenue multiples dropping significantly since their 2021 highs. High-profile setbacks in the industry, such as Convoy’s shuttering and Transfix’s down rounds, have further dampened investment fervor.
But opportunities still exist. Stallman noted sustained vigor in early-stage funding, with credible founders still attracting investments. Fontinalis, for example, is eyeing digital infrastructure firms that promise to untangle the current complexities of supply chain technologies. Through these challenges, Stallman remains optimistic, seeing a landscape where only the most adept FreightTech companies will continue to thrive.
And that will set them up for future competitive advantages.
2024 FreightTech 25
Here is the list of the 2024 FreightTech 25 companies, ranked according to voter results. (Company descriptions are from Crunchbase, among other sources.)
1. Amazon Freight
Blends technology with a network of Amazon trailers and carriers to move full truckload freight.
2. Plus
Developer of self-driving trucks to enable large-scale commercialization of autonomous transport.
3. Fillogic
Generates efficiencies for retailers and freight delivery networks via mall-based microdistribution hubs.
4. Bestpass
Provides a comprehensive payment platform with a focus on nationwide toll management for commercial fleets.
5. Greenscreens.ai
Builder of a dynamic pricing infrastructure for freight.
6. Breakthrough
Provider of fuel recovery and network intelligence solutions.
7. Highway
Offers carrier verification services to cut down on fraud.
8. Blue Yonder
World leader in digital supply chain transformations and omni-channel commerce and fulfillment.
9. FedEx
Provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services.
10. ChargePoint
Provider of end-to-end fleet electrification solutions including charging stations, software, and services.
11. MyCarrier
Transportation management platform that allows SMB companies to manage their freight needs directly with their carriers.
12. FourKites
Supply chain visibility platform designed for transportation into yards, warehouses and stores.
13. Arrive Logistics
A technology-enabled logistics company for multimodal freight.
14. Better Trucks
Last-mile parcel carrier that specializes in rapid-residential deliveries.
15. (tie) Einride
Provider of digital, electric and autonomous shipping.
15. (tie) J.B. Hunt
Provides logistics management services and integrated transportation solutions to major corporations.
17. bitfreighter
Provider of EDI and data integrations platform.
18. Gatik
Technology developer for autonomous light- and medium-duty trucks for B2B short-haul logistics.
19. Descartes
Provider of real-time freight visibility and capacity matching (MacroPoint) and freight broker TMS (Aljex) software solutions.
20. ArcBest
Asset-based carrier and freight broker.
20. (tie) FetchGoat
Provider of fulfillment and last-mile management services.
22. Isometric Technologies
Provider of benchmarking tools.
23. GoodShip
Provider of analytics, carrier management and procurement services.
24. ISAAC Instruments
Provider of ELD and fleet management services.
25. AIT Worldwide Logistics
Technology-enabled freight forwarder.
