CloudTrucks, a tech-driven trucking company based in the US, announced that it has raised $115 million in a Series B funding round led by Tiger Global. Other participants in the round include Menlo Ventures, Flexport and angel investors Michael Ovitz and Opendoor CEO Eric Wu.
With $20.5 million raised in 2020 Series A funding round, total capital raised is $141.6 million.
Created by Nigerians Tobenna Arodiogbu, George Ezenna and Jin Shieh in 2019, CloudTrucks uses technology to streamline administrative bottlenecks—making it easier for drivers to run their business and produce more revenue.
CloudTrucks says the new funding will enable CloudTrucks to accelerate its expansion as it helps small trucking businesses and entrepreneurs streamline administrative bottlenecks and keep more revenue. Specifically, the new investment will be used to amplify its existing capabilities, expand its technology to meet the needs of more drivers, grow its existing team, and broaden its digital integration with brokers and shippers.
In the United States of America, Trucking is responsible for most of the overland freight movement, with the market being worth 791.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. At that time, there were over 947,000 truck drivers employed in the U.S., which is less than the industry requires.
According to CEO Tobenna Arodiogbu, CloudTrucks was founded on the idea that the trucking industry has been rapidly changing and getting much more complex, while the owner-operators, the lifeblood of the trucking industry, were being left behind. So the company wanted to change this by building something from the ground up to ensure that owner-operators — and really all trucking entrepreneurs — have the tools to succeed and thrive in the industry.
“Nearly every sector of the economy relies on drivers to transport its goods and we are eager to use this latest round of funding to continue optimizing the trucking business—especially as our country needs new truck drivers more than ever,” said Tobenna Arodiogbu, co-founder and CEO, CloudTrucks. “We’ve seen the number of loads completed on our platform grow 8x since last year, and we recognize the importance of providing a complete business-in-a-box solution for drivers to make the most of every run.”
Over the past year, CloudTrucks launched three new products to solve unique business challenges in the trucking industry: CT Cash, Flex, and Business Intelligence. CT Cash is designed for drivers who are looking to get paid faster and alleviate cash-flow constraints, providing instant pay and cash card options in addition to receiving cash advances. Similar to Virtual Carrier, CloudTrucks’ existing product for independent owner-operators, the new Flex product line is designed exclusively for small trucking businesses and those drivers who are not looking to drive under CloudTrucks’ authority. Additionally, CloudTrucks’ Business Intelligence dashboard provides a comprehensive breakdown of a driver’s performance, personal expenses and revenue for drivers to better determine how they can yield the most profit.
“CloudTrucks has always seen the trucking industry as the backbone of America and has made it its mission to create world-class tools and services that empower truck drivers to make a greater profit with fewer headaches,” said John Curtius, Partner, Tiger Global Management. “We’re excited to see the company continue to transform some of the industry’s broken practices like antiquated payment services and processes.”
“We’re thrilled to fund the next generation of drivers as CloudTrucks lowers the barrier of entry to trucking,” said Steve Sloane, Partner, Menlo Ventures. “Menlo has long held an interest in companies streamlining the supply chain and believes CloudTrucks is uniquely positioned to set drivers up for success at a time when they’re more indispensable than ever. Tobenna knows how to deliver a standout solution and I’m confident that he will continue to bring state of the art technology and digital experiences to one of the largest and most critical workforces in the U.S.”
