The e-commerce sector has seen unprecedented growth over the last year. A shift in consumer spending due to the pandemic has led to the rapid expansion of digital retailers and the logistics companies that serve them, and investors are rushing to keep up the pace.
Over the last year, investments have been pouring in for shipping logistics companies like Curri and Shippo. Last week, San Francisco-based KeepTruckin added its name to the mix with a fresh raise.
The shipping software platform grabbed $190 million in a Series E round to respond to a sharp uptick in demand. KeepTruckin’s recurring revenue is growing at an annualized rate of more than 70 percent, according to a news release.
The raise, led by G2 Venture Partners, values the unicorn at a whopping $2 billion.
KeepTruckin’s software was built to help truck drivers manage things like ELD compliance, vehicle maintenance and fuel spend management. The AI-powered platform also offers up driver safety tips and a smart dashcam to prevent accidents.
“We started KeepTruckin with a clear mission — to improve the safety and efficiency of the businesses that power our physical economy,” Shoaib Makani, CEO of KeepTruckin, said in an email to Built In. “The technology helps to automate any complex distributed operation that happens in the physical world.”
All told, KeepTruckin’s software is used to assist over one million drivers at more than 90,000 companies. KeepTruckin’s client list covers small businesses and Fortune 500 leaders across an array of industries including logistics, oil and gas, construction and agriculture.
The company will use the additional capital to continue building out its suite of AI-powered products as well as its team.
KeepTruckin plans to double the size of its research and development team to include a total of 700 people globally, according to Makani. On top of that, the company plans to hire across its engineering, machine vision and data science departments, to name a few. In the meantime, KeepTruckin is actively hiring for 75 positions.
“We think packaging these products into operator-friendly user interfaces for people who are not deeply technical is critical,” Makani continued. “So, front-end and full-stack engineers with experience building incredibly intuitive mobile and web applications are also high priority.”
KeepTruckin has raised $417.3 million in venture capital financing to date, according to Crunchbase.
Additional investors Index Ventures, Greenoaks and IVP participated in the Series E round, among others.
