Project44 lands $35 million in private funding, adds parcel services to API portfolio

Logistics technology provider project44 said today it landed $35 million in funding from six companies, by far its largest-ever financing round, and unveiled a software module to support the North American parcel supply chain, adding today's perhaps most dynamic transport mode to its portfolio.

The funding round nearly triples to $48 million the capital that project44 has received since it went to market in 2015; it was founded in 2014. OpenView led the financing syndicate, with additional funding from 8VC, a new investor. Existing investors such as eBay Founder Pierre Omidyar's firm Omidyar Technology Ventures, and Pritzker Group Venture Capital contributed capital, the company said.

Ally Lynch, project44's vice president of marketing, said proceeds from the round will be used in part to expand the company's international operations, notably in ocean freight. Up until now, its focus has been exclusively in North America. The company has built capabilities supporting less-than-truckload (LTL), truckload, rail and, with today's announcement, parcel and the e-commerce delivery growth that accompanies it.

Chicago-based project44 says its software accelerates, widens, and deepens the information flow between shippers, carriers, and third-party logistics (3PL) providers by allowing them to exchange data through an application programming interface (API) format that directly links their databases. Historically, stakeholders have relied on third-party interfaces, such as email, faxes, and electronic data interchange (EDI), to exchange shipment information.

By adding parcel to its other modes, project44 is "rapidly stitching together multimodal and multinational shipment workflows, providing access to standardized, dynamic data that increases the capacity and fluidity of entire supply chains, and delivers a more visible, predictable transportation experience," the company said in a statement.

In addition, project44 will relocate its headquarters to a 40,000-square-foot space in Chicago's downtown Loop district. Its current headquarters are also in the Loop.