- Supply Chain Tech Trends
- Posts
- Platform Science secures $125M in funding, C.H. Robinson x GenAI, J.B. Hunt tough quarter
Platform Science secures $125M in funding, C.H. Robinson x GenAI, J.B. Hunt tough quarter
Supply Chain Tech Trends
Welcome to the inaugural Supply Chain Tech Trends newsletter, written by Operator Stack. We’re planning to riff about all things supply chain with a focus on technology, & would love your feedback.
Yes, it’s another newsletter. But since we’re operators and tech investors, we’re hoping to share some unique insights from time to time.
Thanks for reading 🙌
-Operator Stack GPs (Raj, Daniel & Matt)
Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe Here
Top News
1) Platform Science raised a massive round ($125M) to continue transforming trucks into IoT devices. Their goal is to make it as easy for developers to build apps for drivers & fleets as it is to build them for smartphones.
💯 We like the smartphone app store analogy here. IoT has certainly had its hype cycle but its application and use cases in trucking / enterprise fleets are compelling.
2) C.H. Robinson is using generative AI to automatically respond to transactional truckload quote emails & schedule appointments.
👀 This is a no brainer and we think there are massive efficiency gains to be had by leveraging language models to enhance automation.
3) J.B. Hunt missed earnings…
👎️ … and the pain continues. As everyone knows we are still in a very extended loose market with supply way outstripping demand. Rates need to fall further to push more capacity out of the market.
“We are seeing the most prolonged bouncing along the bottom that I’ve seen in my 30-plus years in the industry”
💬 “Operator-Investor” Thesis1
We’ve written extensively about how automation and Generative AI will reshape the supply chain industry over the next decade. Companies like Vooma* are building similar email quoting AI tools for freight brokers & carriers who don’t have the same in-house dev resources as C.H. Robinson. The potential efficiency gains across the entire trucking ecosystem are exciting to think about - C.H. Robinson alone receives 11,000 emails per day from shippers & carriers requesting pricing.
In our opinion, the unprecedented loose market today makes these AI tools increasingly mission critical to running a successful brokerage or carrier.
What does the brokerage or carrier of the future look like? Hard to say for sure, but one thing is clear: it is not manual load execution, at least for the mid- & large-sized companies out there. We think there’s a compelling case to be made for completely touchless load execution in the next 5-10 years, and the brokers & carriers who win through the cycle will be the most automated.
1 This section is intentionally opinionated to spark debate; *Operator Stack portfolio company
Notable Fundings
Platform Science, a provider of connected vehicle solutions, raised $125 million in funding led by 8VC, NewRoad Capital Partners and Prologis Ventures.
Flink, a German grocery delivery startup, raised $106.7 million in funding led by Rewe Group, Bond, Northzone and Cherry Capital.
Verne, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of high-density hydrogen storage systems, raised $15.5 million in funding led by Trucks Venture Capital.
Outpost (formerly Semi-Stow), a commercial vehicle parking and storage provider, raised $12.5 million in funding led by GreenPoint Partners.
Iron Sheepdog, a provider of a comprehensive trucking technology solution for brokers and contractors, raised $10 million in funding led by SJF Ventures.
GoodShip, a cloud-based procurement platform, raised $8 million in funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Cargado, a U.S.-Mexico cross-border logistics startup, raised $6.8 million in funding led by Primary Venture Partners.
ClickPost, a logistics intelligence platform for online retailers, raised $6 million in funding led by Inflexor Ventures and Athera Venture Partners.
goFlux, a leader in the digital and financial integration of agricultural freight in Brazil, raised $6 million in funding led by Capria Ventures.
Alrik, a Swedish operations software provider, raised $1.1 million in funding led by Pi Labs.
Heale, a unified API for logistics, raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by Venture 53.
Links to Ponder
Why fintech is the next supply chain frontier
Software is finally eating the physical world
The latest push by retailers and manufacturers to cut shipping costs
Baltimore bridge collapse update
In 2024 e-commerce sales will surpass physical retail sales in China
— Ryan Petersen (@typesfast)
2:15 AM • Apr 11, 2024
🎤 Upcoming Conferences
WERC Annual Conference: June 2-5th, Dallas, TX
FreightWaves The Future of Supply Chain: June 4-5th, Atlanta, GA
GS1 Connect: June 4-6th, Orlando, FL
The Logistics & Supply Chain Forum: September 8-10th, Scottsdale, AZ