AtoB Raises $155M in Series B to Modernize Trucking Industry

Amid a worsening shortage of truck drivers in the United States, FinTech AtoB has raised $155 million in a Series B round to modernize the U.S. transportation industry.

AtoB called itself “the first fintech payments platform to modernize the $790 billion trucking industry’s broken financial system” in the Tuesday (Aug. 16) announcement. The firm said the funding has been earmarked for scaling — especially internationally — and for providing working capital for small truck fleet operators.

CEO and co-founder Vignan Velivela said the company works “to improve the lives of the operators and drivers. For too long they’ve been left behind, without the basic financial services that most businesses take for granted.”

AtoB’s platform includes no-fee fleet cards and instant direct deposit payroll. The company also offers services that it said help reduce fuel theft and improve truck-routing in ways that, among other things, cut emissions.

The trucking industry is plagued with “exploitative” field cards, poor access to capital for maintenance and over-reliance on paper documentation and checks, according to AtoB. The company said 92% of trucking fleets consist of six or fewer trucks, and 97% consist of fewer than 20 trucks.

Efforts to improve conditions for truckers and fleet operators come during a severe shortage of drivers in the United States. By some estimates, the industry needs at least 80,000 more drivers than it has, and the situation only is worsening.

See also: Key Metric for Trucking Companies: Number of Drivers

The latest fundraise brings AtoB’s total debt and equity raised to date to $230 million. The round was led by General Catalyst and Elad Gil, and existing investors Collaborative Fund, Contrary Capital, Leadout Capital and XYZ Venture Capital also participated.

Additional investors included Eric Schmidt, who was chief executive of Google and executive chairman of parent company Alphabet, and DoorDash founders Tony Xu and Stanley Tang, among others.