Truck Financing FinTech BasicBlock Raises $78M

BasicBlock Inc., a FinTech that provides financing for the trucking industry, has completed a $78 million debt and equity raise.

The Nebraska-based company said the funding will help it expand its services, add to its staff and improve client support. The round was led by Autotech Ventures, Clear Haven Capital Management, Emergent Ventures and Nelnet, with continued investment from Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, SaaS Ventures and TNT Ventures.

Founded in 2018, BasicBlock began life as a trucking document capture tool that let drivers scan and send load documents. It has evolved to become a payment platform for carriers. The company says this new capital will let it keep its focus on factoring while adding and expanding its services.

Taylor Monks, BasicBlock CEO and co-founder, said he spent six months traveling the country with truckers to get a complete picture of the business prior to launch.

He found that “96% of commercial trucking companies in the U.S. have less than six trucks, and one of their biggest pain points is access to capital. We launched BasicBlock with a freight factoring app to enable drivers to get paid as quickly as possible and have evolved to provide critical working capital to fleets who cannot secure it through traditional financial institutions.”

The company also plans to move its operations to Chicago after seeing a 50% increase in drivers it serves and a 60% increase in factoring volume, said Brett Byman, BasicBlock COO.

“Establishing an office in Chicago, one of the leading freight-tech cities in the U.S., will enable us to meet the needs of our increasing national customer base and improve upon our already industry-leading customer service,” he said.

Read more: Truckers Consider Multi-Pronged Approach To Cash Flow

PYMNTS looked at the challenges truckers facing in financing their fleets last year in an interview with Andy Lupo, vice president of strategic partnerships at Pilot Company.

He said as companies look for external financing products, they should keep in mind the benefits of factoring, considering the plague of late payments facing the industry.

“Given these slow payment trends, which have impacted fleets of all sizes [as well as] new carriers entering the market, factoring has become critical to keep businesses on the road,” Lupo told PYMNTS.