project44 closes $202 million Series E investment round

Chicago-based project44, a technology services provider offering standardized, secure Web service API (application programming interfaces) integrations enabling 3PLs and shippers to connect with carriers in real time, announced this week it closed a $202 million Series E investment. This investment was led by funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Emergence Capital.

With this round of investment, project44 said its market cap now stands at $1.2 billion, with the company having raised $442.5 million to date. And it added that this investment will help to accelerate its expanded multimodal carrier network, make significant inroads into Asian markets, expand artificial intelligence (AI) and data science capabilities, new product innovation, and also expand its global sales and market reach.

“We’re grateful for the confidence Goldman Sachs and our existing investors have placed in our team as we continue to solve some of the most critical supply chain execution challenges across the globe,” said Jett McCandless, CEO and Founder of project44, in a statement. ​“project44’s solutions help enterprises deal with some of the most complex supply chain challenges facing the world today. Goldman Sachs is not only a top-tier investor. It also has the network and resources to help project44 to deliver on our strategic objective of rapid expansion into China and Asian markets. This investment will allow us to continue hiring the best talent, accelerate our global expansion and improve our products to deliver even more value to our customers.”

The company has made two major acquisitions recently, with last week’s news that it acquired San Francisco-based Clear Metal, a provider of international supply chain visibility and predictive analytics for enterprises, and the early March acquisition of Rostock, Germany-based Ocean Insights, a provider of ocean freight intelligence services.

And project44 said that the combination of these two companies meshed with project44’s visibility and predictive analytics spans more than 55 shipping lines, 700 seaports, and more than 5,000 vessels. What’s more, it added that project44 processes more than five million sailing schedule changes per day, in tandem with providing machine learning, ETAs, and analytics to the order level.

“We are fully aligned with the vision that Jett and his team have set forth to build the clear global leader in supply chain visibility,” said Will Chen, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, in a statement. ​“By continuing to innovate and by further extending its global reach, project44 addresses critical pain points and brings increasing value to its customers and partners, who are among the most sophisticated shippers and logistics service providers in the world.”

Current project44 investors, include Insight Partners, Sapphire, 8VC, Chicago Ventures, and Sozo, have increased their investment in the company after participating in previous fundraising rounds, according to project44.