Companies that rely on the physical supply chain (the network of facilities and transportation systems used to move materials from one place to another) face a number of challenges, from staff shortages to rising customer expectations. The pressures are not abating. According to a survey by Prologis, a real estate investment trust, two-thirds of executives say they are losing sleep over supply chain issues.
Barry Conlon and David Broe encountered some of these stressors while founding FreightWatch, a startup that provided “freight visibility” and supply chain security solutions to corporate clients. After selling FreightWatch in 2012, Conlon and Broe saw an opportunity to address supply chain bottlenecks in a more innovative way, leveraging telemetry and data.
Four years after leaving FreightWatch, Conlon and Broe poured what they learned into Overhaul, a platform that helps companies track the location of their products in the supply chain while combating theft. Overhaul also reports on product quality and compliance during transit and attempts to identify areas of potential cost savings.
Cargo theft is on the rise, as a result of the emboldening of organized crime groups. According to CargoNet, a company focused on cargo theft prevention and recovery, cargo theft in the US and Canada increased 14% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2024. The total value of stolen goods exceeded 39 million dollars in the quarter.
“In our industry, many people struggle to gain visibility into their supply chains, especially when dealing with multiple suppliers and partners,” Overhaul CEO Conlon told TechCrunch. “Without visibility, it is difficult to identify and mitigate risks.”
Overhaul, which today has about 350 customers including Microsoft, Dyson and pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb, develops software to anticipate delays in shipping goods. The software relies on artificial intelligence models trained on in-transit telemetry and contextual data, which can detect events such as when a load is at risk, Conlon said.
“Our platform can alert our global security operations,” added Conlon, “who can send shipping and cargo data via a ‘smart link’ in real time to local authorities tasked with addressing theft for entry. in action and prevent and recover cargo in case of theft.”
Overhaul certainly has no shortage of competition in the supply chain visibility software market, which could be worth $12.6 billion by 2032, according to one estimate. Tive, Altana, Project44 and FourKites are among Overhaul’s main rivals.
And it’s not getting easier for supply chain startups to raise funds. According to PitchBook, last year until the third quarter only $7.1 billion was invested in the sector, a figure much lower than that of 2021, when $63.7 billion was raised.
To remain competitive, Overhaul has launched new applications, an “intelligence as a service” offering, a cargo insurance program and a quality cold chain solution for customers in the pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries.
That strategy has helped the company gain new investors. Today, Overhaul announced it raised $55 million in a funding round led by Springcoast Partners with participation from Edison Partners and Americo.
Bringing the total raised by Overhaul to about $150 million, the fresh money will go toward product development, strategic acquisitions and growing the Austin-based company’s 600-person team, Conlon said.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/10/overhaul-keeps-tabs-on-cargo-for-customers-like-microsoft-and-dyson/?mod=djemlogistics_h
