Supply chain visibility platform FourKites is expanding with a $100 million funding round led by heavy-hitters in wireless communication, logistics technology, and transportation, a move the company says will allow it to connect supply chains beyond transportation to include manufacturing facilities, warehouses, and stores.
The Series D funding round is led by Thomas H. Lee Partners, the venture capital arms of telecommunications firm Qualcomm and auto-maker Volvo Group, and technology equipment maker Zebra Technologies, bringing the firm’s total capital raised to more than $200 million, FourKites said today.
The FourKites platform helps companies track their shipments across all modes of transportation and uses machine learning to predict exact arrival times. The network helps organizations lower operating costs, improve on-time performance, and create better customer relationships, according to the company. The added support from Qualcomm Ventures, Volvo Group Ventures, and Zebra Technologies will help fuel a broader vision of digital supply chains, creating “true end-to-end visibility,” the company also said.
“If you look at the strategic investors in this growth financing, we are now evolving beyond transportation visibility into true end-to-end supply chain visibility so that you know exactly what is happening in your supply chain, anywhere and everywhere, at any given point in time,” said Matt Elenjickal, FourKites’ founder and CEO. “We will be connecting the physical and digital worlds of warehouses, yards, stores, and transportation with real-time data and machine learning. That end-to-end view is what our customers are looking for, and we brought on strong partners who can help us blend the digital and physical supply chains.”
FourKites said it will use the funding to add more depth to its existing solutions, including more advanced asset-tracking features such as condition and safety monitoring. It will also help expand the company’s presence and customer support teams, particularly in Europe, Asia Pacific, and India, Elenjickal said.
