Growing Logistics Startup FourKites Moving to Larger Office
Shipping logistics startup FourKites is moving its office to the West Loop Gate neighborhood of Chicago, having outgrown its space in the Loop.
The growing software company operates in an industry that is drawing increasing investment as e-commerce giant Amazon.com redefines consumers’ expectations regarding shipping and deliveries.
After raising $35 million earlier this year, Chicago-based FourKites has about doubled the number of employees at its headquarters, to more than 110. In December, FourKites plans to move its office from 1 N. Dearborn St. to a space three times larger at 500 W. Madison St.
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“If you walked into our office now, you’d see tables, little card tables, slammed against the wall [acting as] makeshift workspaces because so many new people are starting,” said Gina Hortatsos, head of marketing at the company.
Founded in 2014, FourKites builds software that lets shippers and logistics companies track cargo and alerts them of loads that might not arrive on time. The investments announced in February brought the company’s total funding raised to $51 million.
FourKites’ 36,000-square-foot office is at about a mile from its current space. The company will take over part of the space vacated by industrial supply company W.W. Grainger, which is moving 650 employees into the Merchandise Mart.
FourKites has almost 300 employees worldwide — and it expects to continue growing, Hortatsos said. It is expanding teams throughout the business, including marketing, software and product engineering, and sales.
With the growth, FourKites falls in line with other expanding Chicago-based logistics companies. In September, e-commerce logistics firm ShipBob announced $40 million in new investments and opened a fulfillment warehouse in Cicero, Ill. Project44, another Chicago-based supply chain technology company, raised $45 million in venture capital funding last month.
