FourKites Secures $50 Million Series C Funding to Spur Growth of Supply Chain Visibility Network

FourKites, a Chicago based global leader in predictive supply chain visibility, today announced $50 million in new funding to fuel growth of its real-time visibility network for shippers and carriers, with Engineering Center of Excellence in Chennai. The Series C round includes follow-on financing from existing investors August Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, CEAS Investments andHyde Park Angels. The funding brings FourKites’ total capital raised to $101.5 million.

Since launching five years ago, FourKites has pioneered the industry shift to real-time visibility, enabling shippers to improve on-time delivery and optimize their supply chain based on actionable data and predictive intelligence. FourKites’ network now includes more than 200 of the world’s top shippers, including AB InBev, Conagra Brands, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, Perdue Foods, Smithfield Foods, Unilever, Walmart Canada and many others.


Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Arun Chandrasekaran, Co-Founder and CTO, FourKites, said “We are extremely delighted with the multi-fold and meteoric growth of FourKites in its recent years. With Series C funding in place, we are looking forward to accelerating the growth of the company by further expanding our engineering talent pool. The funding is well-timed with our recent recognition from Great Place to Work, which has also helped us shift our focus to increasing the overall headcount to double in India. In addition to investing in strengthening our R&D capabilities we will continue our investment in employing and developing right talent in India.”

FourKites will use the funding to expand its supply chain platform with new applications and capabilities; grow its global network of top shippers and carriers; and extend its “zero deadhead” initiative to help shippers share unused truck capacity. FourKites currently tracks shipments in 55 countries worldwide, helping top shippers and carriers collaborate based on real-time data across North America, South America, Europe and Africa.

“We believe in a future where every supply chain is collaborative, intelligent and networked,” said Mr.Mathew Elenjickal, founder and CEO of FourKites. “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. As we move into 2019, we’re excited to add more shippers, more carriers and more value to the FourKites network to help accelerate the industry’s transformation.”

FourKites continues its global expansion. The company now has more than 300 employees in Chicago (headquarters) and Chennai, India; with operations in Mexico, Brazil, Poland and the United Kingdom. The FourKites platform is live in eight languages, with product guides in 15 languages.

Supply Chain Platform FourKites Raises $35 Mn In Series B Led By August Capital

FourKites, the fastest-growing predictive supply chain platform based out of Chicago with office in Chennai, today announced $35 million in Series B funding to further its geographic and product expansion. August Capital led the round, with additional investment from existing investors Bain Capital Ventures and Hyde Park Venture Partners. Eric Carlborg, general partner at August Capital, will join the FourKites board.

FourKites has grown revenue by 400 percent over the last 12 months and is now the undisputed market leader, signing large shipper customers at a rate of one per week. The company recently signed international deals with Unilever for supply chain tracking across Europe, and with AB InBev in South Africa. Other FourKites customers include many of the world’s largest shippers – Best Buy, Conagra Brands, KraftHeinz, Nestlé, Perdue Foods, Smithfield Foods and US Foods, among others.

“The funding will further fuel the company’s plan to double its engineering talent pool and also build new teams by the end of this calendar year, 2018,” said Arun Chandrasekaran, Co-founder & CTO, FourKites. “We are going to be heavily investing in research and development, product & Engineering. This includes omni-modal tracking & end to end visibility solutions and our predictive analytics capabilities. We will also invest in our operations to help our customers realize value and be successful.”

Powered by the industry’s largest network of real-time shipment location data, FourKites uses connections to more than four million GPS devices and a proprietary algorithm to provide precise arrival time predictions and real-time recommendations. Enterprise shippers use deep analytics from FourKites to make immediate decisions that improve on-time delivery rates, strengthen end-customer relationships and optimize supply chain operations.

While FourKites has grown its customer base and network exponentially, it has also expanded tracking coverage to Europe and South America, and to include shipments moving by ocean, rail and parcel, in addition to truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL), as well as real-time trailer temperature and condition monitoring. The company has also added robust analytics and benchmarking capabilities to provide shippers with actionable business insights.

“Our goal since day one has been to deliver measurable value for our customers by reimagining the way technology can transform their global supply chains,” said Mathew Elenjickal, FourKites’ founder and CEO. “This new funding accelerates the pace with which we can develop the next generation of predictive supply chain solutions.”

“Predictive technology is rapidly becoming an integral component of supply chain execution, as companies recognize its enormous value,” said Eric Carlborg, general partner at August Capital. “FourKites is at the forefront of that value creation, delivering transformative solutions to the world’s largest companies. We look forward to being part of FourKites’ next chapter, as the team scales the breadth and depth of those solutions.”

August Capital is a venture capital firm located in Silicon Valley founded in 1995. August Capital is currently investing its seventh fund and is managing approximately $2 billion in aggregate capital commitments. August Capital’s primarily focus is on early stage investments, but also makes opportunistic later stage investments. August Capital has a diverse group of limited partners, including endowments, private foundations, fund of funds, public charitable organizations and corporate strategic investors.

According to a Gartner report, the supply chain management (SCM) market exceeded $13 billion in total software revenue in 2017, up 11 percent from 2016. It is on pace to exceed $19 billion by 2021, as software as a service (SaaS) enables new revenue opportunities.

Top Image - FourKites' Team at Chennai office [Via - https://www.facebook.com/FourKites/]