05 Dec 2024
Austin-based Arrive Logistics has received a $300 million investment to fuel its booming freight brokerage business.
The lead investor in the deal was ATL Partners, a New York-based private equity firm focused on aerospace, transportation and logistics. Other participants included the Baupost Group, British Columbia Investment Management Corp. and Temasek.
The investment is a combination of primary and secondary equity, with the large majority of the secondary equity providing liquidity for early investors.
Founded in 2014, Arrive specializes in working with shippers and carriers to get products and supplies from one place to another on behalf of thousands of clients.
In 2019, Arrive raised a $25 million equity financing in a deal led by Lead Edge Capital, which has backed Uber, Spotify and Alibaba Group.
Over the past seven years, Arrive’s workforce, which is based in Austin and Chicago, has expanded from 10 to more than 1,000 employees.
Last spring, as the coronavirus pandemic pummeled the freight brokerage industry, Arrive reduced its workforce by 10% with a combination of furloughs and layoffs. The company also had a hiring freeze, but by July it was able to hire again and bring back furloughed employees.
Arrive said that during the past six months of 2020 it hired 300 people and began investing back in growth.
The new investment will allow the company to hire 1,000 employees between Austin and Chicago in the next 12 months. It also expects to add another 1,000 people a year for the next three years. About 60% of the hiring will take place in Austin and 40% in Chicago.
Arrive said revenue has grown from $530 million in revenue in 2019 to $810 million in 2020 and the company is on pace to exceed $1.2 billion in 2021.
“We have followed the Arrive story since inception and have been incredibly impressed with the company’s management team, track record of organic growth, and strong unit economics,” said Paul Teske, co-founder and partner at ATL.
Arrive used previous investments, which total $50 million, to develop its transportation management system, which uses machine learning and automation to make supply chains more efficient.
In addition to expanding its workforce, proceeds from the new investment will let Arrive continue to invest in its technology and create new service offerings.
“Over the last seven years, we have focused on building a top-tier workforce, strong relationships with our partners and best-in-class technology,” said Matt Pyatt, Arrive co-founder and CEO. “Today we are focused on innovation that empowers our partners, building digital solutions to provide a seamless experience designed for efficiency and asset-like services.”
The investment in Arrive is believed to be the largest in an Austin-based company so far this year. Last year, Torchy’s raised $400 million to launch a national restaurant expansion.
Under the deal, Torchy’s sold a stake to an investor group led by global private equity firm General Atlantic, which initially invested in 2017.
Other sizeable investments in Austin companies this year include software maker Quali, which received $54 million and tech-enabled mortgage platform UpEquity, which raised $25 million.
Photo credit: Austin American-Statesman, original article published here: https://www.statesman.com/story/business/2021/04/28/arrive-logistics-investment-will-bring-more-tech-jobs-to-austin/4872486001/
