Gatik raises $85Mn to expand autonomous delivery truck operations

Gatik, a company that focuses on short-haul, business-to-business (B2B) logistics for the retail industry, has recently secured $85 million in a Series B round headed by Koch Disruptive Technologies, the venture arm of Koch Industries.

Existing investors like Wittington Ventures, Innovation Endeavours, Trucks VC, Intact Ventures FM Capital, Dynamo Ventures, and others also participated in the round.

Till date, Gatik has raised a total amount of $114.5 million. The company is now expanding into Texas, building its fourth market with fresh capital.

It has undertaken pilots with Canadian retailer Loblaw and Walmart in the last two years since it emerged from stealth, mainly as an attempt to demonstrate that self-driving technology coupled with box trucks could provide economic benefits while moving products short distances.

Gatik CEO and Co-Founder, Gautam Narang said in a recent interview – The firm is in expansion mode, and the Koch Industry's funding would add value to it. Gatik views Koch as a strategic investor and plans to expand its footprint in numerous cities in Texas.

The latest funding will be leveraged to expand the company's portfolio of Class 3-6 multitemperature autonomous box trucks and hire more people, notably in Texas.

Gatik has been transporting goods as part of Walmart's trial projects in Arkansas and Louisiana, and Loblaw Companies Limited's pilot program in Ontario, Canada.

In 2020, Gatik and Isuzu formed a manufacturing collaboration to mass-producing medium-duty autonomous vehicles by early 2023.

The company has opened a self-driving trucking facility in the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone, a 26,000-acre industrial, mixed-use, and residential construction in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that has become a transportation and logistics hub.

Incidentally, Gatik’s move to Texas follows the likes of other self-driving vehicle technology firms like Kodiak Robotics, Aurora, TuSimple and Waymo, that have facilities in the state.

Source Credit - https://roboticsandautomationnews.com/2021/08/31/gatik-raises-85-million-in-series-b-funding-for-its-autonomous-delivery-trucks/45994/