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The ability to move cargo from one location to another in a timely manner is essential for any company that deals with physical goods, whether it’s a retailer or an electronics manufacturer. Samsara Networks Inc. is using cutting-edge sensory equipment to help organizations meet this requirement.
To fuel its efforts, the San Francisco-based startup today secured a $40 million funding round led by General Catalyst. The investment firm was joined by Andreessen Horowitz as well as Samsara’s co-founders, Sanjit Biswas and John Bicket, who sold their previous venture Meraki Inc. to Cisco Systems Inc. for a cool $1.2 billion. Their cash infusion comes on top of the $40 million that the firm has raised in two previous rounds.
About two-thirds of the original sum is still in the bank thanks to the fact that Samsara has been using revenue from its logistics platform to drive growth. The offering consists of hardware and software components coordinated via the cloud. The linchpin is the VG34, a cellular gateway about the size of a card deck that can be installed in a truck to collect a variety of operational information.
Chief among them is location data. A GPS built into the gateway tracks fleet movements to help companies check that drivers meet delivery schedules and follow regulations. According to Samsara, the data collected by the VG34 may be augmented by deploying additional sensors, which can use the gateway’s Wi-Fi capabilities to transmit their measurements.
A grocery chain that moves frozen produce, for instance, could set up temperature readers in containers to verify that drivers turn on the freezer at the start of their shift. The VG34 also works with dash cams, vehicle diagnostics equipment and a variety of other sensor types. Samsara displays the collected data in a cloud-based dashboard that enables fleet managers to check everything is going smoothly.
Rounding out the value proposition is a mobile app geared towards the drivers out on the road. They can use the application to log hours, view work orders and perform other tasks that they’ve historically had to manage using a paper log.
Samsara will use today’s funding to add yet more capabilities for its platform. In particular, the startup is working to expand beyond logistics to the industrial world, where it wants to help companies monitor their production facilities. Samsara plans to double its headcount to 200 by the end of the year as part of the push.
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