Autopilot truck company Gatik completed $200 million in financing. Two months before the funds came to the books, the company had just entered into multi-year cooperation with Pepsi, showing that its unmanned cargo operations were moving from a pilot phase to a larger commercial expansion.
The financier and the expansion plan
This round of financing was led by the Qatar Investment Agency and Koch Disruptive Technologies, with the participation of Millenium Management, ARK Invest and Intact Private Capital. Gatik did not disclose the latest valuation.
The cumulative financing of the company has been approximately $500 billion since it closed its covert operations in 2019. Gatik indicated that the new funds would be used to expand the engineering and operations teams and facilitate their access to more markets or to expand the existing market coverage.
Focused short-distance freight
Gatik is based in Santa Clara, California, United States of America, and operates the auto-pilot van. Unlike many auto-pilots that bet robotic taxis, long-distance heavy cards or industrial scenes, Gatik chose the short-distance distribution market.
The company initially focused on the distribution of fixed lines, which were usually less than 10 miles in one course, and then gradually expanded to more complex dynamic routes, covering dozens of loading points up to 400 miles.
Commercialization accelerated
Gatik is currently targeting the “middle-mile” distribution, that is, medium-range cargo between warehousing, distribution centres and door stores. Its clients include Canadian retailers Loblaw, Wal-Mart and Pepsi.
According to the company, the key technology and operational nodes were completed last year and the wardens were removed from commercial lines. Today, Gatik has dozens of trucks that operate in multiple markets under completely unmanned commercial operations and can operate in different environments.
According to Gautam Narang, co-founder and chief executive officer of the company, Gatik has locked some $600 million in contract revenues. As a new round of financing is completed, the company hopes to further expand its fleet size and commercial coverage.