Gatik raises $85m as expands across US

Gatik said the funding round, its biggest to date, will be used to expand operations, bulk up headcount and increase its fleet of trucks.

Gatik, the autonomous retail delivery startup, has raised $85m as it plans expansion across the US.

The funding, its biggest funding round to date, comes courtesy of a Series B funding round, which was headed up by Koch Disruptive Technologies while existing investors Innovation Endeavors, Wittington Ventures, FM Capital also contributed.

Since its inception in 2017, Gatik, which uses autonomous vehicles to ship goods on fixed routes from large distribution centres to retail locations, has raised $114.5m.

It has already inked pilot schemes with Walmart and Loblaw, the Canadian retail firm, and is now expanding into its fourth market of Texas.

The funding will be used to help it expand operations, bulk up headcount and increase its truck fleet.

“With our exclusive focus on structured autonomy, we have unlocked lower costs, shorter delivery times, and sustainable, reliable capacity for our customers today,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder, Gatik.

“Our long-term partnerships with the world’s largest retailers, strategic relationships with OEMs and fleet servicing & maintenance partners have allowed us to address critical supply chain challenges and build an industry-defining business. With this financing, we are ideally positioned to commercialize our solution at scale.”

“The logistics industry is experiencing unprecedented disruption driven by the explosive growth of ecommerce, and demand for more efficient goods movement,” said Chase Koch, president of Koch Disruptive Technologies.

“Nowhere is this more pronounced than on the Middle Mile. Gatik’s transformational autonomous technology and world-class team are defining the standard in B2B short-haul logistics by addressing the most prominent issues facing today’s supply chain. We believe Gatik will be the first to commercialize autonomous technology at scale for the North American medium-duty trucking market.”