Spanish startup Ontruck gets €17 million from eco-friendly VCs, attracted by low-carbon freight forwarding

Ontruck, a Madrid-based digital freight forwarding platform with a vision of sustainability, has secured €17 million in a round led by OGCI Climate Investments (OGCI CI). Existing investors Cathay Innovation, Atomico, Idinvest Partners and Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures also participated in the round, while Endeavor Catalyst joined as a new investor.

The logistics startup optimises the capacity of road shipments, using data algorithms to predict peak demand, route shipments to maximize carrier utilisation, and offer dynamic pricing to balance the marketplace. To date, the Spanish startup has prevented 728,000 kg of C02 emissions from entering the atmosphere, thanks to cutting down the kilometres driven by vehicles without cargo (from the industry average of 44 percent down to 19 percent).

OGCI CI is a $1 billion fund that invests to decarbonize sectors like oil and gas, industrials and commercial transport — specifically through solutions in methane reduction and the reduction or recycling of carbon dioxide. “Ontruck’s technology demonstrates that increased efficiency can have an immediate and substantial impact on reducing carbon dioxide emissions. We look forward to helping them achieve greater scale faster,” said Pratima Rangarajan, CEO of OGCI CI.

Ontruck will “leverage the expertise and resources of OGCI’s members to achieve a common goal of developing, implementing and scaling innovative low carbon solutions in commercial transportation.” Members include global energy giants such as BP, Chevron, CNPC, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Occidental, Petrobras, Repsol, Saudi Aramco, Shell and Total.

Iñigo Juantegui, CEO and co-founder of the startup, said the new partnership and investment will “accelerate our ability to build a new future for logistics in Europe, one that is efficient, transparent and sustainable.”

So far the company has raised $10 million Series A three years ago and a €2 million seed round in 2016, the year it was founded. Those investments helped the business expand throughout Spain and into the UK, France, and the Netherlands, partnering with European companies such as Auchan, Pepsico, P&G, Codorniu, GBFoods and Decathlon. The latest funding will fuel further international expansion.

Photo: Ontruck founders Antonio Lu, Gonzalo Parejo Navajas, Inigo Juantegui, Javier Escribano, Rika Christanto, Samuel Fuentes