MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 08, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cargo Chief announced today that it has raised $10 million to fuel its rapid growth, product development and expansion into additional markets. Cargo Chief is transforming the transportation industry by cracking the code on trucking capacity with patented, proprietary aggregation technology that optimizes its vast network of more than 500,000 available trucks to locate hard-to-source load capacity for shippers.
The round of $10 million funding was led by Walden Venture Capital, with additional investment by Hunt Technology Ventures and the GrowthX Fund.
“We have been very impressed with Cargo Chief’s progress, helping SMBs and Fortune 500 companies save hundreds of thousands in shipping costs,” said Matt Miller, Managing Director of Walden Venture Capital.
“Cargo Chief has brought game-changing technology to a transportation industry that really needs it,” said David Hunt, Managing Partner of Hunt Technology Ventures, L.P.
Cargo Chief’s proprietary carrier search behaves like Kayak.com, providing shippers the best capacity options for their loads, instantly. Once a load is picked up, the Cargo Locate® service provides real-time, 24/7 on-map location tracking, with accurate updates on delivery status or any potential shipment issues. Before each Cargo Chief shipment is dispatched, the Cargo Safe™ service automatically verifies the carrier for safety rating and authority and then confirms the carrier’s cargo and accident insurance.
“This round of funding will accelerate the continued development of our intelligent platform and bolster our sales and marketing, while also supporting our new offices in the Midwest,” said Cargo Chief CEO Russell Jones. “We look forward to raising a final expansion round in first half of 2016.”
Jones’ shipping experiences as CEO of ClearVox Communications, an electronics manufacturer, helped shape the idea for Cargo Chief:
“We couldn’t shop freight buys without spending a significant amount of time. We were told on some days there were no trucks available when we knew there were, and most importantly, a truck would leave our warehouse in San Jose for Best Buy—our most visible customer—but we had no idea where the truck was or when it would get there. We started Cargo Chief to solve these problems,” said Jones.
Co-founder and Vice President Abtin Hamidi, who helped drive growth at both Echo Global Logistics and XPO Logistics, noticed a similar transportation opportunity:
“What drew me to Cargo Chief was the idea of bringing this innovative aggregation technology to the transportation industry, that could also provide significant tech-enabled service enhancement,” said Hamidi. “Cargo Chief was launched to crack the code on truck capacity.”
Headquartered in Mountain View—the heart of Silicon Valley—Cargo Chief recently expanded its offices to the Midwest in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago and in Chesterfield, MO, a suburb of St. Louis.
About Walden Venture Capital
Walden Venture Capital targets Sprout Stage™ investments. We seek products or services with mass-market potential and powerful underlying technologies taking active supporting roles typically as first institutional investors. Our target sectors are digital media and cloud services for consumers and enterprise. We care deeply about Founders and Management and work diligently to help manifest their vision. Our portfolio includes leaders in music, mobile, internet media and breakthrough cloud services. Visit www.waldenvc.com.
About Cargo Chief
Cargo Chief features the unique combination of hundreds of years of transportation industry experience working with Silicon Valley “disruptors” to develop patented technology that enhances logistical services while improving efficiencies. The company is backed by venture and private equity investors and CEOs from a $2B logistics company and the largest regional railroad. For more information on Cargo Chief, please visit www.cargochief.com.