Heavy Duty Trucking Logo
MenuMENU
SearchSEARCH

Freight-Matching Tech Firm Cargomatic Gets Funds for Expansion

Cargomatic, a freight-matching tech startup founded in 2013, is getting a second wind with $35 million in new backing.

August 15, 2018
Freight-Matching Tech Firm Cargomatic Gets Funds for Expansion

Cargomatic focuses its freight-matching on the local and drayage markets.

Image via Cargomatic

2 min to read


Uber Freight may be doubling down on its freight-matching business, but it faces a crowded field, and now an early entrant that has had a rocky start, Cargomatic, is getting a second wind, raising $35 million in new backing.

Founded in 2013 by a tech entrepreneur from Silicon Valley and a logistics expert from Los Angeles, Cargomatic says it seamlessly connects shippers and carriers through its web and mobile apps, helping truckers grow their businesses and shippers track their freight in real time. It focuses on the fragmented short-haul and drayage trucking markets. Currently operating in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Dallas, Houston and New York, Cargomatic is expanding across the U.S. with plans to expand internationally.

Ad Loading...

The company was struggling just two years ago, when the Wall Street Journal reported that Cargomatic was running out of cash, had laid off more than a third of its staff, while its chief operating officer and an interim chief financial officer resigned in rapid succession.

This week, the Journal reported that Cargomatic has installed new leadership, upgraded its technology, and focused on landing large customers with a steady flow of freight, “We’re doing dramatically more business. We’re doing about 8 to 10 times the volume we were,” Richard Gerstein, the company’s chief executive, told the paper.

The new Cargomatic financing is led by funds affiliated with Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm focused on growth investing, along with Canaan, Genesee & Wyoming, Xplorer Capital, and Muse Family Enterprises. 

Ad Loading...

This follows an investment earlier this year from Genesee & Wyoming, which also announced it would add the Cargomatic to its platform as an extension of G&W’s rail service at terminal and transload locations across its U.S. rail network.

"Local trucking is a $70 billion industry in the U.S., and small-fleet trucking companies handle 80% of deliveries in metropolitan markets,” said Richard Gerstein, CEO of Cargomatic, in a press release. His company, he said, is addressing the industry’s largest pain points “through a unique combination of deep mobile and enterprise technology and the robust logistics support necessary for managing the intricacies of short-haul trucking.”

The news comes on top of Uber’s announcement that it’s doubling down on its own freight-matching efforts, Uber Freight, with plans to double its investment in the unit to drive growth ahead of a much-anticipated initial public offering.

Freight load-matching startups have drawn about $420 million in venture-capital funding since 2011, according to research firm Armstrong & Associates.

More Fleet Management

Illustration of computer screen with Trimble Arc Agent screen
Fleet Managementby Deborah LockridgeAugust 14, 2026

Trimble’s New AI Agent Takes Aim at Fleet Back-Office Busywork

Arc Agent works across Trimble TMS products to automate repetitive tasks such as freight orders, maintenance, invoices, fuel costs and more.

Read More →
Photos of three men and two women with HDT Truck Fleet Innovators 2026 logo
Fleet ManagementCover Storyby Deborah LockridgeAugust 13, 2026

How HDT’s 2026 Truck Fleet Innovators Are Rethinking Fleet Operations

Meet five trucking leaders who are challenging assumptions, solving operational problems, and putting innovative ideas to work.

Read More →
Graph showing how contract rates and spot rates converged in July
Fleet Managementby StaffAugust 12, 2026

Tight Trucking Capacity Pushes Rates Higher Even as Freight Volumes Fall

“Spot rates moving ahead of contract rates have historically signaled a tightening market, but we haven’t seen a capacity-driven market quite like this one,” said DAT's Dean Croke.

Read More →
Ad Loading...
Line graph showing container import volumes
Fleet Managementby StaffAugust 7, 2026

Import Cargo’s Early Peak Season is Winding Down

There was an early start to peak season this year at the nation's gateway ports, as retailers brought in merchandise ahead of tariff changes in late July and responded to other supply chain uncertainties,

Read More →
Blue infographic with graphs illustrating cargo theft trends in the second quarter of 2026
Fleet Managementby Deborah LockridgeAugust 6, 2026

Fewer Cargo Thefts, Bigger Losses: Criminals Target Higher-Value Loads

CargoNet says organized theft rings are stealing fewer shipments but choosing more valuable freight, including metals and technology, resulting in record losses.

Read More →
Illustration of a chalkboard with a hand drawing an arrow curving away from a partially erased straight arrow with the words "Embracing Change," the Heavy Duty Trucking Logo and the "cover feature" graphic.
Fleet Managementby Deborah LockridgeAugust 1, 2026

How Innovative Trucking Leaders Turn Change Into an Advantage

As the pace of change accelerates in trucking, the fleets that adapt best have more than the latest technology. They have cultures that embrace improvement.

Read More →
Ad Loading...
Illustration of past due invoices with red X on top with background of a truck at a loading dock
Fleet ManagementJuly 27, 2026

Freight Broker Bonds Just Got Harder to Get. Here's What That Means for Your Fleet.

When it gets harder for a freight broker to prove they are financially sound, the ones who cannot clear that bar get pushed out of the market. And those are exactly the brokers who used to leave motor carriers holding the bag.

Read More →
Photo of cable bridge crossing Detroit River
Fleet Managementby Deborah LockridgeJuly 23, 2026

Long-Awaited Canadian Border Bridge to Open in Detroit

For trucking, the bridge opening should offer immediate improvements in efficiency and reliability, with new customs facilities, expanded inspection capacity, and direct freeway-to-freeway connections.

Read More →
Blue International heavy-duty truck with Aurora driverless truck software coming head-on on an interstate highway
Equipmentby Deborah LockridgeJuly 22, 2026

Aurora Rolls Out Next Generation of Driverless Trucks for Commercial Freight

Aurora's latest autonomous trucks it's rolling out with International feature lower-cost hardware designed for a million miles as the company expands commercial driverless freight operations across the U.S. Sun Belt.

Read More →
Ad Loading...
American Trucking Associations for-hire tonnage graph
Fleet Managementby Deborah LockridgeJuly 21, 2026

Freight Tonnage Down, Rates up, as Lower Capacity Powers Trucking Recovery

The recovery from the freight recession continues to be driven by reduction in capacity rather than by increased demand.

Read More →