Trucking and transportation is a $700 billion industry that serves as the backbone of global commerce, delivering 10 billion tons of freight across the U.S. every year. Businesses and consumers rely on goods to be shipped on time -- increasingly in days rather than weeks -- yet the complex and fragmented nature of trucking infrastructure poses a problem for shippers looking to track products as they move along their supply chain.
Relief for shippers has finally come in the form of FourKites, a breakthrough platform for real-time shipment visibility, which today announced that it has raised $13 million in Series A funding led by Bain Capital Ventures. FourKites previously raised $3.5 million in seed and debt funding, bringing total funding for the two-year-old company to $16.5 million. Existing investors Hyde Park Venture Partners, Hyde Park Angels, and Otter also participated in this round.
FourKites uses mobile, cloud, and analytics software to provide real-time load tracking across more than 2.5 million trucks, helping improve supply chain efficiency for shippers that spend as much as 5% of sales and 33% of profits on transportation. The platform uses FourKites' proprietary technology and its network of 45+ partnerships with GPS-enabled electronic logging device providers (ELDs). The U.S. Department of Transportation has mandated the use of ELDs in commercial trucking by the end of 2017, and FourKites is in a unique position to help shippers, brokers, and carriers through the biggest data explosion in the history of trucking.
'Logistics is an industry primed for disruption. We are absolutely thrilled to partner with Bain Capital Ventures as we execute on our vision to provide real-time visibility and connectivity across the Logistics industry,' said Mathew Elenjickal, founder and CEO of FourKites. 'Transforming any industry comes with regulatory and execution challenges. There is no one better than BCV and Ajay Agarwal to guide us in executing on our vision and building an iconic company.'
Founded in 2014, FourKites has already built an impressive client roster that includes global enterprises such as three of the top 10 food manufacturers in the US, two of the top 5 food distributors, one of the largest specialty apparel retailers, one of the largest office supply chain stores, and three of the top 10 logistics service providers. These companies have deployed the FourKites solution to get arrival times, real-time status, and proactive alerts for all their active shipments. Sharing that information with internal and external stakeholders throughout the supply chain, customers have drastically reduced the hours and dollars spent on disjointed communications and delayed updates.
'Supply chain efficiency has become paramount for every kind of business, and we're excited to help Matt and FourKites realize their ambitious yet achievable vision,' said Ajay Agarwal, managing director of Bain Capital Ventures. 'FourKites has marquee customers achieving impressive results, boosting on-time performance from the low 90% range to 97-98%, which translates into less wait time at warehouses, lower stock-outs, faster inventory turns -- and most importantly, happier customers.'
This is not BCV's first foray into disrupting the supply chain ecosystem. The firm was an early investor in Kiva Systems, which automated e-commerce distribution centers through a combination of autonomous robots, mobile shelving, and software. Kiva was acquired by Amazon.com in 2012 for $775 million. Agarwal, who led Bain's Kiva investment, will be joining the FourKites board of directors.
FourKites said the funding will be used to integrate more data sources into its tracking platform, expand internationally, and cover additional transportation modes such as LTL, rail, intermodal, and ocean. In addition to investing in the core platform, FourKites is also building new applications that harness the rich data its platform collects to drive efficiency in customers' supply chain operations. FourKites is also looking to add more than 100 jobs in Chicago market in the coming year.
About FourKites
FourKites is re-shaping the logistics industry for real-time transparency and efficiency. FourKites provides comprehensive real-time tracking and supply chain visibility solutions across transportation modes and digital platforms. Using FourKites, the shipper, the broker, and the carrier can share the same, real-time truck location and shipment status information -- from more than 45 onboard GPS/ELD systems used by fleets to individual owner-operator smartphones and flip phones. Bypassing phone calls and EDI, FourKites saves time and money across the transportation spectrum. Best of all, nothing falls through the cracks. Learn how FourKites real-time load tracking can help your business by requesting a demo at www.fourkites.com, following via @FourKites, or emailing sales@fourkites.com.
About Bain Capital Ventures
Bain Capital Ventures (BCV) partners with disruptive B2B startup founders to accelerate bringing their ideas to market. The firm's investments range from seed to growth stage in enterprise software, infrastructure software and in industries being transformed by data. BCV has helped launch and commercialize more than 200 companies since 1984, including select prior investments in DocuSign, Kiva Systems, LinkedIn, Rapid7, SurveyMonkey and TellApart. BCV has approximately $3 billion in assets under management and offices in the Bay Area, New York City and Boston. Follow BCV at @BainCapVC or visit http://www.baincapitalventures.com.