Platform Science lands another high-profile investor for its truck telematics
Daimler-backed startup adds truck manufacturer Paccar as a minority owner in plan to provide in-cab technology for Kenworth and Peterbilt vehicles starting in 2024.
The telematics technology provider Platform Science has landed a new round of financial backing, announcing that truck manufacturer Paccar has made a “minority equity investment” in the company.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the fresh backing follows a $115 million “series C” venture capital round in February that was funded by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 as well as the truck manufacturer Daimler and several other investors.
In addition to supplying on-vehicle fleet management software for Daimler trucks, San Diego-based Platform Science also landed a deal in 2022 to install tablet computers in the cabs of the 9,000 tractors in Walmart’s private fleet as part of a “connected truck” initiative.
It will now provide similar technology for Paccar, a Bellevue, Washington-based company which provides design, manufacture, and customer support of light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt, and DAF nameplates. And that follows a January agreement for those two companies to integrate Platform Science’s Virtual Vehicle technology with the Paccar Connect telematics system. Paccar said that plan will offer Kenworth and Peterbilt customers a standardized telematics operating system and application store, enabling customers to access software solutions, real-time vehicle data, and third-party applications directly from their vehicles.
“Paccar is pleased to deepen this strategic relationship by investing in Platform Science. Paccar Connect will be the industry’s most user-friendly, customizable, and productive connected truck solution, and will enhance our customers’ agility and operating efficiency. We look forward to launching the system on Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks in 2024,” John Rich, Paccar’s chief technology officer, said in a release.