Supply chain data provider project44 has landed a $202 million venture capital round, coming less than a week after acquiring the artificial intelligence and predictive analytics provider ClearMetal, and now plans to fuel technology innovation and boost its expansion into China and other markets.
The seven-year-old startup firm has now completed three acquisitions—including the Danish shipping data provider GateHouse Logistics and ocean freight tracking firm Ocean Insights as well as ClearMetal—and is now valued at $1.2 billion as the company positions itself to respond to a massive demand for transportation visibility and analytics solutions, Chicago-based project44 said.
The latest round was a “series E” investment led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Emergence Capital, with additional backing from current investors Insight Partners, Sapphire, 8VC, Chicago Ventures, and Sozo. It follows a $100 million “series D” round in 2020, bringing project44’s total raised to $442.5 million.
According to project44, the latest funding will accelerate its expanded multimodal carrier network, make significant inroads into Asian markets, expand artificial intelligence (AI) and data science capabilities, accelerate new product innovation, and bolster sales and marketing reach globally, project44 Founder and CEO Jett McCandless said in a blog post.
“We are fully aligned with the vision that [McCandless] and his team have set forth to build the clear global leader in supply chain visibility,” Will Chen, managing director of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said in a release. “By continuing to innovate and by further extending its global reach, project44 addresses critical pain points and brings increasing value to its customers and partners, who are among the most sophisticated shippers and logistics service providers in the world.”
