Madrid — Trucks­ters, the Spanish road haulage company revo­lu­tio­ni­zing the long-distance trans­port sector through the use of AI and Big Data, has closed a €33 million Series B round. The new injec­tion of capi­tal, backed by new and exis­ting inves­tors, will be used to achieve some of the company’s stra­te­gic goals, inclu­ding the elec­tri­fi­ca­tion of its routes, which could make Trucks­ters the first elec­tric long-distance opera­tor in Europe.

The new invest­ments will support other important deve­lo­p­ments, inclu­ding the expan­sion and streng­thening of the IT and manage­ment teams and the opening of new inter­na­tio­nal corri­dors. These impro­ve­ments will support the company’s over­all goal of impro­ving drivers’ working condi­ti­ons while provi­ding effi­ci­ent trans­por­ta­tion solu­ti­ons for its customers.

New inves­tors

The new round of finan­cing is supported by new inves­tors inclu­ding Continental’s Corpo­rate Venture Capi­tal Unit, Volvo Group Venture Capi­tal, part of the Swedish multi­na­tio­nal vehicle manu­fac­tu­rer, the Euro­pean Invest­ment Bank (EIB) and Fond­ICO, the Spanish fund of funds.”

The funds provi­ded by the EIB are part of Euro­pean InvestEU, an invest­ment program focu­sed on the EU’s common prio­ri­ties. These include inno­va­tion, digi­ta­liza­tion and “human capi­tal,” climate protec­tion and envi­ron­men­tal sustaina­bi­lity, all of which are central to Trucks­ters’ busi­ness strategy.

The new inves­tors join exis­ting inves­tors who, with this support, show that they believe in Trucks­ters’ ability to revo­lu­tio­nize the trans­por­ta­tion sector and make it more effi­ci­ent, safe, produc­tive and people-centric.

Exis­ting inves­tors include inter­na­tio­nal funds Ampli­fier VC and Meta­vallon VC, as well as Spanish funds Big Sur Ventures, Bonsai Part­ners, Kibo Ventures and The Valley VC . Sacha Mich­aud, co-foun­der of Glovo and member of the Board of Direc­tors as Non-Execu­tive Chair­man, is also re-inves­t­ing in this round.

Continental’s Corpo­rate Venture Capi­tal Unit is parti­ci­pa­ting in this new round for the first time. Jürgen Bilo, Mana­ging Direc­tor of Continental’s Corpo­rate Venture Capi­tal Unit, explains: “The invest­ment in Trucks­ters is in line with our vision of the future of mobi­lity: inno­va­tive, data-driven fleet manage­ment solu­ti­ons that ensure opera­tio­nal effi­ci­ency while promo­ting sustainable growth. We believe Trucks­ters’ model will revo­lu­tio­nize fleet manage­ment and shape the future of transportation.”

Martin Witt, Presi­dent of Volvo Group Venture Capi­tal, agrees: “We are impres­sed by what Trucks­ters has alre­ady achie­ved and see that Volvo Group can add stra­te­gic value to the deve­lo­p­ment of the company. Given the growing demand for freight trans­por­ta­tion, relay systems can provide a solid struc­ture for long-distance elec­tri­fi­ca­tion as well as auto­no­mous solu­ti­ons in the future.”

A dream come true

Luis Bardají, co-foun­der and CEO of Trucks­ters, says, “When we star­ted Trucks­ters, we never imagi­ned that just a few years later we would be in a posi­tion to sign a part­ner­ship with flag­ship compa­nies like Volvo Group and Conti­nen­tal. Having them as our share­hol­ders is a dream: safety, focus on drivers, sustaina­bi­lity and elec­tri­fi­ca­tion are some of the hall­marks of both compa­nies and the reasons Trucks­ters was foun­ded in the first place.”

Bardají also explains that the part­ner­ship is crucial for the deve­lo­p­ment of Trucks­ters, as it will help them “learn from them and their heri­tage. We can’t wait to start this new chap­ter together.”

Substan­tial growth, succes­ses and a busi­ness model that proves itself

Trucks­ters had previously raised €14.3 million when it comple­ted a Series A round in March 2022. The company repor­ted record annual sales of €30 million in 2022, a 300% increase over 2021 (a four­fold increase over the previous year).

One of the key factors in the company’s success, with an equally impres­sive 300% annual reve­nue growth in 2022, is its focus on large custo­mers with high growth capa­city, to whom it offers fast and relia­ble solu­ti­ons, such as incre­asing their fleet size to meet high demand. For exam­ple, Trucks­ters was able to triple the size of its fleet in 2022, over­co­ming major chal­lenges such as the severe driver shortage in Europe.

Trucks­ters is ready in 7 countries

Alre­ady present in Spain, Belgium, Germany and Poland, Trucks­ters opera­tes in seven count­ries: the Nether­lands, Germany, Belgium, Poland, the United King­dom, France and Spain. — Using a truck relay system based on Big Data and arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence, Trucks­ters offers effi­ci­ent routes between Europe and Spain. The scale-up opera­tes four main corri­dors, inclu­ding a new corri­dor from central Spain to the United King­dom. The company moves more than 600 trucks and made nearly 2,000 relay tours last year.

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