Investors Inject Fresh Funding Into KeepTruckin, Samsara
Investor interest in trucking technology remains strong, as venture capital firms have recently put a total of $100 million into two companies that seek to upgrade the way data is used to ensure driver compliance, monitor vehicles and make fleet operations more efficient.
KeepTruckin, a provider of ELDs and GPS systems, raised $50 million in financing in an investment round led by IVP with participation by existing investors Scale Venture Partners, Index Ventures and Google Ventures. The San Francisco-based company has raised a total of $78.3 million in four funding rounds since 2013, according to Crunchbase.
Sandy Miller, general partner with IVP, will join the KeepTruckin board, and Roseanne Wincek, IVP principal, will become a board observer.
KeepTruckin said it would invest in product development, expand sales and support staff and enter new markets. KeepTruckin said it has nearly 700,000 driver accounts and more than 990,000 million cumulative hours logged. It counts 200,000 registered trucks and 30,000 companies using its products. KeepTruckin sells its ELD on its website and at Pilot Flying J truck stops.
The company said its recurring revenue grew to $40 million in 2017, up from $500,000 in 2016.
Separately, Samsara raised $50 million from investors Andreesen Horowitz and General Catalyst. Samsara’s technology platform uses wireless sensors to provide information to drivers and fleets on GPS location, vehicle diagnostics, ELD compliance, driver behavior, trailer tracking, and theft detection. San Francisco-based Samsara was founded in 2015.
