venture capital

SmartHop closes $4.5M seed round to help small trucking businesses compete

SmartHop founders

SmartHop​, a tech startup that helps small trucking companies grow their businesses, on Tuesday announced that it has closed a $4.5 million seed round led by Equal Ventures, a seed stage venture fund based in New York. Additional investors in the round include Greycroft and Las Olas VC. 

Smarthop has also recruited a group of industry veterans and strategic angels to help the company scale.

Dozens of startups have entered the truck technology space in recent years, selling freight brokerage and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/smarthop-closes-45m-seed-round-to-help-small-trucking-businesses-compete

Liftit raises $22.5 million to automate last mile in Latin America

Quito, Ecuador.

Last week, Liftit, the Colombia-based freight tech startup automating last-mile logistics in Latin America, announced that it had closed a $22.5 million Series B round led by Cambridge Capital, with participation from IFC, monashees, Jaguar Ventures, NXTP Ventures and others.

Liftit estimates that the “short distance trucking market” in Latin America is worth $100 billion and growing thanks to accelerating e-commerce penetration of Latin American retail. Liftit, founded in 2017, operates in 18...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/liftit-raises-22-5-million-to-automate-the-last-mile-in-latin-america

Autonomous trucking companies reap millions in PPP loans

autonomous PPP
  • TuSimple, Kodiak Robotics among autonomous vehicle startups that received at least $1M from government bailout
  • The decision to take money from the government has created a divide in tech startup community

Some of the biggest names in autonomous trucking were among the businesses that received a loan of more than $150,000 from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Leading self-driving trucking company TuSimple, with offices in the U.S. and China, received a loan between $2 million and...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/autonomous-trucking-companies-reap-millions-in-ppp-loans

Push for greater racial diversity in VC and freight industries

Venture capital (VC) is often the initial ingredient in formulating the success of many innovative companies in today’s society. As progressive as the industry may seem though, the demographics of the sector haven’t exactly kept pace with the nation’s changing population.

One firm, BLCK VC, has sought to introduce more minorities into the predominantly white world of venture capital by creating a platform and community for Black business leaders to connect, share insights and excel within their...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/push-for-greater-racial-diversity-in-vc-and-freight-industries

Racial diversity in freight tech

racial diversity

(Part 1 of a series)

“If your implicit bias makes you under appreciate founders that are different, you will have worse returns. So it’s very good business practice to get trained in unconscious bias.” 

The protests over systemic racism that have rocked the United States in recent weeks have triggered a reckoning in American business, as industries across verticals have been forced to confront racial disparities in their ranks. 

The tech sector is no exception. Although “diversity” has been a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/racial-diversity-in-freight-tech

Xos electric truck startup edging toward low-volume production

Xos Trucks leaders

Despite help from a Google map on a sunny February afternoon, finding the headquarters of  Xos Trucks in North Hollywood, California, was not easy. Block letters on a window to the left of the building’s recessed entry was the only signage.

Most Xos employees work from home these days because of the coronavirus pandemic. A few workers test battery packs and perform other duties in the back of the building, whose neighbors include an auto repair garage and a thrift shop.  

Though unintentional,...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/xos-electric-truck-startup-edging-toward-low-volume-production

Need an ocean or air cargo quote? RPA Labs’ software bots have you covered

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 has been working on the technology for a couple of years, co-founder Matt Mostick told FreightWaves, with the idea of using automation to help lower costs and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/need-an-air-cargo-or-ocean-quote-rpa-labs-software-bots-have-you-covered

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