Fleet telematics technology provider Platform Science said today it has raised $125 million in growth capital from some of the biggest names in freight trucking, saying the money would help accelerate innovation in the commercial transportation sector.
Commercial investors included C.R. England, Cummins, Daimler Truck, PACCAR, RyderVentures, and Schneider. New financial investors included Activant Capital, BDT & MSD Partners, and Manhattan Venture Partners. Addiutional participation came from existing investors, including 8VC, NewRoad Capital Partners, and Prologis Ventures.
The backing supports San Diego-based Platform Science’s Virtual Vehicle platform, which is a technology standard for connecting vehicles to all parts of the logistics ecosystem. Developed in collaboration with Daimler Truck North America, Navistar, PACCAR, and other OEMs, Virtual Vehicle is being deployed by commercial trucking fleets including C.R. England, Covenant, Schneider, and Werner Enterprises.
According to Platform Science, the tool is the first application platform that can unlock all signals at the edge directly on the truck without any aftermarket hardware installation. That allows fleets to improve the driver experience by integrating an application ecosystem including solutions made by telematics providers, third-party developers, OEMs, shippers, and fleets themselves.
“By including our software as a native component of the vehicle, we’re making it as easy for developers to build applications for drivers and fleets as it is to build them for smartphones. By doing so, we expect innovation to change transportation in the same way smartphones have changed our lives,” Platform Science co-founder and CEO Jack Kennedy said in a release. “This injection of capital enables us to accelerate our growth and capitalize on the opportunity we have to exponentially drive innovation in the commercial transportation sector.”
