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AlleyWatch

The Pulse of New York Tech

Logistics

Altana AI Raises $15M to Bring Unprecedented Visibility to Supply Chain at a Time When It’s Most-Needed

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The pandemic has tested the resiliency of global supply chains in an unprecedented manner and exposed vulnerabilities.  Shock waves have unsettled global trade, creating uncertainty and disruption with these impacts expected to be felt through the next few years.  Altana AI is an AI-powered trade intelligence platform focused on supply chains to help organizations better position themselves for this new economic reality and remain competitive. Private sector clients on the platform are able to build a holistic picture of their entire supply chain by tracing sources, mapping out suppliers and customers, monitoring status, and formulating contingency plans for future disruptions.  For governments and logistic providers, the platform provides seamless intelligence and risk ratings on individual shipments for security purposes. The company uses billions of data points to create a living map of global commerce while protecting the privacy and intellectual property of all supply chain participants. AlleyWatch caught up with Altana AI CEO and Cofounder Evan Smith to learn more about how the company is facilitating more efficient trade by alleviating bottlenecks through data, strategic plans, and latest round of funding from investors that include GV, Floating Point, Ridgeline Partners, Amadeus Capital Partners, and Schematic Ventures.

Pietra Raises $15M for its Platform That Empowers Creators to be Entrepreneurs and Build Thriving Businesses

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Brands are set to spend $15B on influencer marketing by 2022. But at the end of the day, these creators that are powering the sales for the brands are beholden to third-parties in terms of platform and partners. In response, creator commerce is a growing subset of e-commerce where influencers, celebs, and content creators are directly transacting with their followers and fans, on owned channels. Pietra is an end-to-end platform that gives creators the infrastructure and tools to build and launch brands or product lines. Similar to a Shopify that’s built specifically for creators that haven’t explored commerce, the platform connects creators to vendors to source products, establishes warehousing and fulfillment, and builds owned web presences. Pietra even provides inventory financing options. The company is launching out of beta with over 20,000 users on the platform and this round comes at a $75M valuation.AlleyWatch caught up with CEO and Cofounder Ronak Trivedi to learn more about supporting the creator economy, the company’s future plans, and latest round of funding from investors that include Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Abstract Ventures, TQ Ventures, and Michael Ovitz.

Waybridge Raises $30M for its Supply Chain Management Platform for Raw Materials

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Supply chain disruptions were up 67% in 2020 and 83% percent of these disruptions were caused by humans somewhere in the many moving parts that need to work in unison, whether at the supplier, trader, bank, or manufacturer end. The pandemic exposed shortcomings that were decades in the making. The importance of how technologies can bring supply chain transparency and flexibility is now at the forefront with unprecedented attention given to visibility and decision-making tools to ensure that our global, interconnected supply chain remains as resilient as it can be. Waybridge is a supply chain management platform focused on raw materials, the core components at the top of the funnel for most supply chains. The platform minimizes the resources spent on previously manual processes and provides a holistic view of shipments, inventory, and even offers alternative suppliers and purchasers so that businesses can be prepared in case of disruption. Waybridge is initially focused on non-ferrous metals with plans to expand into other materials and also increase the capabilities the platform offers to include tracing, sustainability, and trade finance. AlleyWatch caught up with CEO and serial entrepreneur Brian O’Kelley (cofounded AppNexus) to learn more about how the business came to fruition, the company’s strategic plans, how recent events have accelerated the digital transformation for supply chain management, and the company’s latest round of funding led by Rucker Park with participation from Craft Ventures and Venrock.

Nuvocargo Raises $12M for its Digital Freight Forwarding Platform Focused on US-Mexico Trade

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Freight forwarding and logistics have long been an industry that relies on disparate workflows, heavily reliant on a pen and paper model despite trillions of dollars of annual trade. The pandemic has led to an increase in digital adoption as the need to continue commerce superseded the industry’s traditional unwillingness towards anything digital. Nuvocargo is an all-in-one digital platform that’s focused on cross-border trade between the US and Mexico, a $600B+/yr market. The company offers freight forwarding, customs brokerage, insurance, and is also looking to make a mark in trade financing. Supporting businesses with unprecedented transparency and efficiency, the company grew revenue 25X during the pandemic with plans to expand its geographic footprint and headcount. AlleyWatch caught up with Cofounder and CEO Deepak Chhugani to learn more about how his own personal paint point with his family’s business led to the need for this business now, the company’s future plans, and latest funding round from investors that include QED Investors, FJ Labs, Clocktower, NFX, ALLVP, MAYA Capital, Magma Partners, One Way Ventures, and Ride Ventures.

Loadsmart Raises Another $90M for its Real-Time Trucking and Shipping Marketplace

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Trucking is the dominant mode of freight transport in the United States and the total addressable market exceeds $800B per annum. However, the logistics industry has traditionally relied on disparate means (faxes, emails, and spreadsheets) to manage the many moving parts involved with shipments. Loadsmart, a freight management platform and marketplace, automates how freight is priced, booked, and shipped. AlleyWatch caught up with Hunter Yaw, VP of product management, marketing, and sponsorships, to learn more about Loadsmart’s impact on the logistics industry, expansion plans, and recent round of funding from investors that include
BlackRock Inc.’s Innovation Capital, Chromo Invest, TFI International Inc., and shipping giants Maersk.

Odeko Raises $12M to Help Small Cafés and Local Eateries Streamline Supply Chains

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In the wake of the pandemic small neighborhood coffee shops, bakeries, and cafes had to scramble to adopt mobile ordering and needed to place an emphasis on managing their supply chain to ensure survival. Odeko is the simple-to-use technology platform that allowed them to do both and quickly. CEO Dane Atkinson shares some insight on the company, its mission-driven purpose enabling neighborhood businesses to compete with the larger chains, and recent round of funding from investors that include GGV Capital, First Round, Primary Venture Partners, Box Group, Addition Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, and Y Combinator.

Crisp Raises Another $12M to Solve Inefficiencies in the Global Food Supply Chain

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“We have all walked into a grocery store and seen empty shelves, while food is being wasted at alarming levels. This paradox is the result of thousands of food companies being dependent on outdated, siloed infrastructure. Crisp transforms the value chain by providing an open data flow to solve critical problems such as out-of-stock, shrink, on-shelf optimization, and adaptation to changes in consumer demand.” We caught up with serial entrepreneur and Founder Are Traasdahl (exit Tapad for $360M) to learn more about how Crisp’s technology helps better manage the food supply chain during the pandemic, the company’s impressive growth, and recent funding round from investors that include FirstMark Capital, Spring Capital, and Swell Partners.

CALA Raises $3M to Help Influencers and Creators Launch Fashion Brands From Scratch

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CALA is a full-stack managed solution for people looking to launch their own fashion and clothing line. Design, sourcing, sales, and fulfillment are all handled on the platform, which is also supported by a network of experts. Newbie fashion entrepreneurs are often overwhelmed with all the moving parts and CALA makes it easy all for a monthly subscription fee and percentage of sales. CEO Andrew Wyatt shes some light about the company’s traction which includes clients like NFL player Travis Kelce, rapper A$AP Ferg, and model Tatiana Ringsby. The company, founded in 2016, also just closed its seed round from investors that include Maersk Growth and Real Ventures.

MakeSpace Raises $55M for its Affordable and Flexible On-Demand Storage Solution

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In 2012, Rahul Gandhi was living in Brooklyn when Hurricane Sandy hit. The amount of destruction and flooding required the need for temporary storage. That experience led to the founding of MakeSpace with the mission to change the complex, expensive, and labor-intensive experience of self-storage. Fast forward to today and MakeSpace is now available in 31 markets across North America, with over 30,0000 customers and has raised a total of $142.6M across seven rounds. Gandhi shares more about the impressive journey and future plans…