Series A investment by syndicate including the Larry H. Miller Company, Porsche Ventures and Hearst Ventures will accelerate RunBuggy’s broad market adoption.
PHOENIX, AZ – RunBuggy Inc., a technology platform that connects car shippers and transporters, announced today that an investor group comprised of the Larry H. Miller Company, Porsche Ventures, and Hearst Ventures has committed to Series A financing to fuel the company’s rapid growth.
RunBuggy will use the funds to continue to scale its automotive transportation logistics technology and accelerate product adoption amongst car shippers and transporters.
RunBuggy launched in 2018 with a mission to simplify car shipping. Since then, the company has built one of the world’s largest digitally enabled carrier networks and transformed automotive transportation logistics management for thousands of shippers and haulers.
“For the first time ever, RunBuggy allows shippers to seamlessly and securely connect at scale with their existing management systems to integrate car transportation services, reducing cost and improving delivery times,” said RJ Romero, Chairman of RunBuggy. For transporters, RunBuggy offers an alternative to expensive load boards and custom software solutions to better find and manage transportation loads.
“We are tremendously proud of what we have accomplished in a few short years. We have led the industry with technology, transforming dated and analog processes to ensure that both shippers and haulers are equipped to succeed in a rapidly changing industry,” said Kevin Malik, CEO of RunBuggy. “We are thrilled to be moving into the next chapter with Larry H Miller Company, Porsche Ventures, and Hearst Ventures by our side as partners with deep expertise and a shared passion for simplifying logistics. We will continue to leverage RunBuggy’s leading marketplace technology to accelerate our growth and continue to lead the industry forward.”
“The Larry H. Miller Company is attracted to investing in companies that have strong CEOs and experienced management teams, and that are delivering an innovative and effective approach to the market. We believe RunBuggy captures all of this through car transportation logistics, which we believe is highly scalable in the coming years and will deliver strong growth. Given our experience in the automotive industry, we understand the value in the transition to digital retail that will become increasingly important in the future.” said David Smith, Chief Strategy Officer of the Larry H. Miller Company.
“We believe that shippers and transporters will be increasingly attracted to the convenience and simplicity that RunBuggy offers. We are eager to share the extensive knowledge and expertise we have built through our decades-long involvement in the automotive sector,” said Stephan Baral, Head of Porsche Ventures USA.
“Hearst’s Bring a Trailer auction business has been a RunBuggy partner for over a year,” said Scott English, Sr. Managing Director of Hearst Ventures. “We are excited to extend our relationship and become an investor and we look forward to working with RunBuggy as they rapidly expand their business.”
The Series A funding comes on the heels of several months of significant momentum for RunBuggy. Alongside signing new partnerships with some of the largest automotive OEM captives and digital retailers, RunBuggy also expanded its marketplace offering with the launch of RunBuggy HITCH™, a cloud-based Transportation Management System (TMS). HITCH puts the technological power of RunBuggy directly into the hands of large shippers and provides a central point of control for automotive transportation logistics operations. Transporters in the RunBuggy network can utilize the company’s new matching algorithms to reduce empty miles and optimize earning potential while traveling between pick-up and drop-off locations.
In November, RunBuggy announced the appointment of Jim Lentz, former CEO of Toyota Motor North America, to the company’s board of advisors.
To date, Runbuggy has signed up more than 17,000 drivers to its platform, delivered to 55,000+ unique addresses, and has reduced the average time to deliver a vehicle by more than 50%.
