According to TechCrunch, while several investors have contributed, the main investment into the $185 million has come from CapitalG, the growth equity arm of Alphabet. CapitalG is part of Google Capital, the growth capital fund financed by Google that invests for profit in growth stage technology companies. Based in Mountain View, California, CapitalG it focuses on larger, growth stage technology companies, and invests for profit rather than strategically for Google.
The recent funding round tallies Convoy’s total raised to $265 million and this extra funding now values the company at $1 billion. As well as Alphabet, other investors included Pine Capital, a fast growing financial services group in Asia.
Convoy is attempting to transform the $800 billion trucking industry. The company was founded by two former Amazon employees – Dan Lewis and Grant Goodale. The underlying mission is to provide an Uber-like service for trucks. This is via an app connects truckers with people who need freight moved. The company has the tag-line: “A new kind of trucking company.”
The service offered ranges from from global companies who need hundreds of trucks a day, to local manufacturers who might only need a few trucks a month. Trucks can be ordered via an app. Here the company sets out to use technology to ease the truck ordering process and to seek efficiency to the supply chain industry. As part of future expansion, Convoy is aiming to provide shippers access to tracking and pricing data.
