Next Trucking, a trucker-centric online marketplace that connects carriers with shippers, announced it will double its headcount this year thanks to growing demand for its services.

The company’s technology connects carriers with shippers based on routes, pricing, driver behavior, and other intelligent matching algorithms.

Following a February infusion of $21 million in funding led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, the California-based company added six new roles to its executive management team. It’s now looking to fill more than 40 positions in engineering, product development, marketing and sales before the end of the year.

The expanded executive team includes:

• Bryan Jolliff, vice president of sales

• Jason Leu, vice president of product

• Chris Lankford, vice president of engineering

• Jennifer Chang, director of marketing

• Shane Van Der Waag, director of drayage and intermodal

• Andres Castañeda, director of talent recruitment

Leu and Lankford previously worked together at another startup for seven years. The company has also expanded its sales team, adding talent from C.H. Robinson, Werner, Schneider National, and CEVA Logistics, and its operations team with recruits from J.B. Hunt, Expeditors, Mattel, and APL. New hires in product and engineering come from leading Southern California tech companies and startups.

CEO and Co-founder Lidia Yan said the hiring spree is to support its aggressive growth strategy. “We are seeing record numbers of carriers and shippers continue to embrace our trucker-centric online marketplace instead of relying on outdated processes that no longer serve them. This has resulted in accelerated growth in all areas of our business.”

Yan got the idea for Next Trucking from working in her family business, one of the largest logistics companies in southern California for electronics. The app was launched two years before Uber decided to try to turn its expertise in ride-share apps to the freight world. At that time, Yan explained to HDT in an interview, “Our app allows truckers to dictate what they want. We realize that drivers spend a lot of time negotiating with brokers.”

Being from the industry, Yan said, “we understand drivers better than a true technology company.”