Editor's note: This is the first installment of a two-part series on the impact of Silicon Valley investing in the trucking and logistics sector. This part covers the expanding Big Tech talent pool. The second part will publish next week and cover the learnings from early successes and failures.
The two largest companies in the world, Amazon and Apple, would not have attained their level of success without developing expertise in transport and logistics (T&L).
Amazon tacked an e-commerce store onto the world’s most sophisticated logistics business. Similarly, Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook, developed world-class expertise in logistics during his 12 years as the company’s director of fulfillment.
Venture capital (VC) and private equity investors see the vital role of T&L in Big Tech companies, but also view the T&L sector as a market ripe with opportunities for disruption.
During the last five years, most VC investors have looked for exposure in T&L, said Zack Linford, a Silicon Valley investor. The numbers tell the story. A May 2020 report by management consulting company McKinsey tracked total investments in logistics startups from 2015 to 2019 at $28 billion.
T&L is not only a magnet for investors. Big Tech workers also see opportunities to solve very interesting and challenging problems, said Linford, with technologies such as digital freight matching, autonomous vehicles, drone fulfillment and robotic warehouses.
