FourKites secures $50M Series C from August Capital and others

FourKites plans to use the capital raised in this funding round to expand its supply chain platform and double its headcount in India.

Chicago and Chennai-based predictive supply chain startup FourKites raised $50 million its Series C round on Wednesday. The company will use this capital to fuel the growth of its real-time visibility network for shippers and carriers with the Engineering Centre of Excellence in Chennai.

The round included follow-on financing from existing investors August Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, CEAS Investments and Hyde Park Angels.

This round of funding brings FourKites’ total capital to $101.5 million.

FourKites will use the funding to expand its supply chain platform with new applications and capabilities. It plans to grow its global network of top shippers and carriers and extend its ‘zero deadhead’ initiative to help shippers share unused truck capacity. The company will also double its headcount in India with this funding.

Also read: Logistics tech is going places, but when will the cash burn stop? 

Arun Chandrasekaran, Co-Founder and CTO, said,

“We are looking forward to accelerating the growth of the company by further expanding our engineering talent pool. In addition to investing and strengthening our R&D capabilities we will continue our investment in employing and developing right talent in India.”

The startup launched its Indian operations in August last year. It set up its Chennai office to further research and development activities.

Mathew Elenjickal, Co-Founder and CEO, said,

“Predictive intelligence helps shippers find new ways to reduce costs, improve service and drive innovation. This comes at a critical time for the industry, as it responds to changing customer expectations, government regulations and cost pressures.”

FourKites was launched five years ago. It has enabled shippers to improve on-time delivery and optimise their supply chain based on actionable data and predictive intelligence.

At present, the company tracks shipments in 55 countries worldwide. It helps top shippers and carriers collaborate based on real-time data across North America, South America, Europe and Africa.

At present, the platform’s network includes over 200 of the world’s top shippers. Some of these are AB InBev, Conagra Brands, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, Perdue Foods, Smithfield Foods, Unilever, Walmart Canada and many others.

The company claims to have more than 300 employees in Chicago (headquarters) in the US and Chennai in India. It also has operations in Mexico, Brazil, Poland and the UK. The FourKites platform is live in eight languages, with product guides in 15 languages.

Also read: FourKites raises $35 M from August Capital and others