European on-demand trucking platform Ontruck secures €17 million (Image: Pexels)
European on-demand trucking platform Ontruck has raised an investment of €17 million, in a round led by OGCI Climate Investments (OGCICI), and saw participation from existing investors Cathay Innovation, Atomico, Idinvest Partners and Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures, with Endeavor Catalyst. Join as a new investor.
Iñigo Guantegui, CEO and Co-Founder of Ontruck, explained that Ontruck’s association with OGCI was a reaffirmation of both companies’ commitment to making road transportation greener and more efficient – especially in the face of the challenging circumstances surrounding COVID-19.
“By combining business intelligence and machine learning tools, the Ontruck platform can optimize the routes taken by its network of drivers to reduce downtime and the volume of empty miles driven. This not only eliminates unnecessary fuel consumption, but also reduces emissions,” Juantegui said. Pollutant gases from entering the atmosphere.
Ontruck’s technology increases efficiency across the road freight market by identifying different geographic locations and behavioral patterns of drivers. Based on insights gained from the data, Ontruck can offer personalized routes that suit the driver’s preferences, reducing the distance between the origin of the shipment and its destination.
“The platform’s unique routing algorithm, capable of planning routes based on multiple variables, also makes it possible to connect new loads to existing routes. This improves the ability of the Ontruck vehicle network to create a more dynamic and flexible fleet,” Guantegui explained. “The more iterations you With the platform with each route, the better you become at providing the best proposal to each carrier in the network.”
This dynamic route optimization helps Ontruck significantly reduce miles traveled, resulting in lower CO2 emissions across every trip. To date, Ontruck has achieved commendable results in its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, managing to reduce the percentage of miles traveled by non-charging vehicles from 44% – the industry average – to 19%. Ontruck estimates this prevented 1.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere.
Juantegui explained that Ontruck plans to continue growing its business in the markets it is currently present in, while also developing its technology. The company invests approximately 40% of its resources in technological development. Juantegui noted that it is an ongoing effort to improve Ontruck’s key products, by improving the process of obtaining the load, finding the truck, assigning it, and tracking it to completion.
“There are a huge amount of variables and steps that these processes play into. The supply chain is a very complex infrastructure, and only through technology will we be able to make a significant impact on it,” Guantigui said. “We are not currently thinking about opening new markets, especially in Given the current uncertainty. However, we will re-evaluate these decisions in the coming months after we see how the market develops.
Ontruck operates in France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. The company has some of Europe’s biggest brands as clients, including Auchan, Pepsico, P&G, Codorniu, GBFoods, CHEP and Decathlon.
