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Smart loading dock startup Kargo lands $6 million seed round

San Francisco-based Kargo to build out senior leadership team

Smart loading dock technology (Photo: Kargo)

Smart loading dock tech startup Kargo announced Thursday it closed on a $6 million seed round. The round was led by Founders Fund and included Sozo Ventures, Accomplice and Hanover as well as technology executives.

The San Francisco-based company’s loading dock control tower, Argus, verifies incoming and outgoing freight and aggregates data, which allows shippers and carriers to manage dock operations.

Smart loading dock tower, Argus (Photo: Kargo)

The autonomous system uses sensors and cameras to scan shipping labels and verify the freight on the dock against the advanced shipping notice. Users are notified of discrepancies and have the ability to swap out supplies in real time.

“We are deeply grateful for their support and leadership as we team up to bring safety and efficiency to the logistics industry,” said Sam Luyre, founder and CEO, in a statement.


Kargo plans to use the funds to invest in operations, product development and to accelerate expansion both domestically and abroad. The company also plans to add senior leadership positions in engineering, computer vision and product design and management.

“Kargo has demonstrated extraordinary understanding of logistics infrastructure, an industry overlooked by the tech sector,” said John Luttig, a principal at Founders Fund. “I believe the Kargo platform will only become more powerful as they reach ubiquity within logistics.”

The 2019 startup serves a mix of industrial customers, which include large auto manufacturers and third-party logistics providers.

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Todd Maiden

Based in Richmond, VA, Todd is the finance editor at FreightWaves. Prior to joining FreightWaves, he covered the TLs, LTLs, railroads and brokers for RBC Capital Markets and BB&T Capital Markets. Todd began his career in banking and finance before moving over to transportation equity research where he provided stock recommendations for publicly traded transportation companies.