Founders Fund

Founders Fund is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that backs science and technology companies across multiple stages, from seed to late-stage. It pursues transformative technologies and follows a founder-friendly investment approach that provides substantial support with minimal interference. The firm invests in ventures solving difficult problems across sectors such as aerospace and transportation, artificial intelligence, advanced computing, energy, healthcare, biotechnology, cybersecurity, fintech, consumer internet, software, robotics, and related technology fields. It has backed notable companies early, including SpaceX, Palantir, and Facebook, reflecting a history of partnering with ambitious founders to scale breakthrough technologies.

Lauren Gross

Partner and COO

Bridget Harris

Associate

Joey Krug

Partner

Jeffrey Lonsdale

Managing Director, Asia

John Luttig

Partner

Past deals in Transportation

Impulse Space

Series B in 2024
Impulse Space is an in-space transportation company founded by Tom Mueller, specializing in providing access beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) through a fleet of innovative transportation vehicles. The company’s flight-proven Mira vehicle employs a non-toxic, high-impulse chemical propulsion system, facilitating services such as orbital transport, constellation deployment, and precision reentry from LEO to Geostationary Orbit (GEO). Additionally, the high-energy Helios vehicle, powered by the Deneb engine, enables deliveries to a range of orbits including Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), GEO, heliocentric, lunar, and other planetary destinations. Impulse Space is committed to offering economical and efficient in-space transportation solutions, leveraging a team with a history of delivering reliable rockets to ensure rapid and dependable service for its customers.

Regent

Series A in 2023
Regent designs and manufactures electric flying machines, known as seagliders, for coastal transportation. These wing-in-ground-effect craft operate a few meters above water's surface, combining airplane speed with boat operating costs. Seagliders aim to revolutionize regional travel by connecting coastal cities and islands efficiently and sustainably.

Impulse Space

Series A in 2023
Impulse Space is an in-space transportation company founded by Tom Mueller, specializing in providing access beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) through a fleet of innovative transportation vehicles. The company’s flight-proven Mira vehicle employs a non-toxic, high-impulse chemical propulsion system, facilitating services such as orbital transport, constellation deployment, and precision reentry from LEO to Geostationary Orbit (GEO). Additionally, the high-energy Helios vehicle, powered by the Deneb engine, enables deliveries to a range of orbits including Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), GEO, heliocentric, lunar, and other planetary destinations. Impulse Space is committed to offering economical and efficient in-space transportation solutions, leveraging a team with a history of delivering reliable rockets to ensure rapid and dependable service for its customers.

ISEE

Series B in 2022
ISEE develops AI-based solutions for autonomous driving in logistics. Founded in 2016, the company is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ISEE's autonomous yard trucks help businesses like Maersk automate their logistics hubs, improving safety, reducing costs, and enhancing driving performance.

TruckSmarter

Series B in 2022
TruckSmarter operates a mobile load board that connects trucking drivers with loads from a broad network of brokers. The platform allows drivers to discover, sort, and book loads through a free app, with no monthly fees or long-term contracts. By expanding access to loads, it helps drivers manage trips more efficiently and maximize earnings, while brokers gain access to a larger pool of available drivers. The service focuses on streamlining daily operations for hauling services and supports drivers in selecting carrier types and routes that fit their business needs.

Fleetzero

Venture Round in 2022
Founded in Auburn, Alabama in 2021, Fleetzero develops a fleet of electric cargo ships to decarbonize ocean freight. Its vessels offer lower operational costs and higher reliability than traditional fossil-fuel ships.

The Boring Company

Series C in 2022
The Boring Company is an infrastructure and tunnel construction company focused on developing underground transportation networks. It designs and builds tunnel systems to alleviate urban traffic, offering safe, fast, and cost-efficient routes for transportation, utilities, and freight, with the aim of reducing surface congestion and expanding mobility options.

Impulse Space

Seed Round in 2022
Impulse Space is an in-space transportation company founded by Tom Mueller, specializing in providing access beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) through a fleet of innovative transportation vehicles. The company’s flight-proven Mira vehicle employs a non-toxic, high-impulse chemical propulsion system, facilitating services such as orbital transport, constellation deployment, and precision reentry from LEO to Geostationary Orbit (GEO). Additionally, the high-energy Helios vehicle, powered by the Deneb engine, enables deliveries to a range of orbits including Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), GEO, heliocentric, lunar, and other planetary destinations. Impulse Space is committed to offering economical and efficient in-space transportation solutions, leveraging a team with a history of delivering reliable rockets to ensure rapid and dependable service for its customers.

Kargo

Series A in 2022
Kargo specializes in optimizing supply chain processes through its logistics management platform. Founded in 2019, the company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Hermeus

Series B in 2022
Hermeus Corporation, founded in 2018 and based in Atlanta, Georgia, is focused on developing hypersonic aircraft capable of flying at speeds exceeding Mach 5. These advanced jets significantly reduce travel times, allowing a flight from New York to London to take just 90 minutes instead of the typical seven hours. Hermeus aims to enhance the global transportation network by enabling businesses to operate efficiently without major changes to existing aviation infrastructure. The company's innovations not only decrease flight durations but also enhance safety for long-haul and business class air travel, facilitating improved connectivity between major global cities.

Flexport

Series E in 2022
Flexport, established in 2013, is a San Francisco-based company specializing in global freight forwarding and customs brokerage services. It offers an online platform that simplifies and streamlines international trade for businesses. Flexport's services include customs clearance, freight transportation by ocean, air, and road, along with value-added services such as cargo insurance, warehousing, and trade finance. The company's user-friendly dashboard enables clients to understand, purchase, manage, and track these services in real-time, optimizing their supply chain and logistics operations.

Supermove

Series A in 2022
Supermove offers cloud-based software for moving companies to modernize operations. The platform combines lead management, crew scheduling, digital documentation, and real-time reporting to streamline processes, reduce overhead, and improve customer experiences through automation and data-driven insights. It provides constant access to information and eliminates paperwork in the field, allowing businesses to sell more moves, efficiently manage jobs and personnel, and focus on moving customers.

Coco

Series A in 2021
Founded in 2020, Coco operates human-controlled sidewalk robots for last-mile deliveries. Serving thousands weekly in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Austin, and Houston, it partners with local businesses like restaurants to deliver goods efficiently.

AREVO

Venture Round in 2021
AREVO, based in Silicon Valley, California, is a technology company specializing in direct digital additive manufacturing of ultra-strong, lightweight composite parts for high-volume end-use applications. The company combines advanced materials, powerful design and build software, and free motion robotics to achieve true three-dimensional construction. This innovative approach allows AREVO to move beyond prototyping, facilitating the design and production of large, mass-manufactured parts and structures. By leveraging the unique properties of composite materials, AREVO provides designers and manufacturers with exceptional flexibility and strength, targeting sectors such as aerospace, defense, consumer electronics, transportation, and consumer goods. With its cutting-edge technology, AREVO is positioned to optimize additive manufacturing services for original equipment manufacturers worldwide.

Replica

Series B in 2021
Replica is an enterprise data platform and urban planning tool that helps cities understand mobility, population, and land use. It ingests a wide range of data, including public datasets such as the US Census and land use regulations, as well as private sources like aggregate mobile location data, credit transactions, and real estate information, to deliver a synthetic representation of the built environment. The platform measures movement patterns, mode shares (car, transit, bike, foot), and trip purposes, and provides baseline travel metrics to answer key transportation questions. Replica serves public agencies, land developers, and communities, supporting planning decisions on transportation, schools, parks, and hospitals by combining demographic data with transit data and other inputs. Outputs are validated against ground truth such as auto counts or ridership where possible, with options for customers to supply their own ground-truth data to improve model accuracy. Founded in 2018, Replica is based in San Francisco, California.

Regent

Seed Round in 2021
Regent designs and manufactures electric flying machines, known as seagliders, for coastal transportation. These wing-in-ground-effect craft operate a few meters above water's surface, combining airplane speed with boat operating costs. Seagliders aim to revolutionize regional travel by connecting coastal cities and islands efficiently and sustainably.

Kargo

Seed Round in 2021
Kargo specializes in optimizing supply chain processes through its logistics management platform. Founded in 2019, the company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Ghost Autonomy

Funding Round in 2021
Ghost Autonomy is a technology company focused on making self-driving accessible to the consumer market. It develops an advanced autonomous driving software platform designed for automakers, leveraging innovative artificial intelligence breakthroughs to ensure safe and scalable highway autonomy. The company's platform includes AI-enabled software that encompasses perception systems, planning and decision-making algorithms, and vehicle control software. This comprehensive approach allows automakers and suppliers to integrate autonomous driving capabilities into their vehicles with minimal hardware modifications, facilitating a more affordable and efficient transition to self-driving technology.

Ghost Autonomy

Series C in 2019
Ghost Autonomy is a technology company focused on making self-driving accessible to the consumer market. It develops an advanced autonomous driving software platform designed for automakers, leveraging innovative artificial intelligence breakthroughs to ensure safe and scalable highway autonomy. The company's platform includes AI-enabled software that encompasses perception systems, planning and decision-making algorithms, and vehicle control software. This comprehensive approach allows automakers and suppliers to integrate autonomous driving capabilities into their vehicles with minimal hardware modifications, facilitating a more affordable and efficient transition to self-driving technology.

ISEE

Series A in 2019
ISEE develops AI-based solutions for autonomous driving in logistics. Founded in 2016, the company is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ISEE's autonomous yard trucks help businesses like Maersk automate their logistics hubs, improving safety, reducing costs, and enhancing driving performance.

SmartDrive Systems

Venture Round in 2019
Founded in 2004, SmartDrive Systems provides driver safety and fuel management solutions for commercial fleets worldwide. Its core offerings include SmartDrive Safety (video-based driver coaching), SmartDrive Fuel (fuel performance analytics), SmartIQ (real-time actionable fleet data), and SmartRecorder (event recording system). The company employs over 400 people globally, with headquarters in San Diego, California.

Flexport

Series D in 2019
Flexport, established in 2013, is a San Francisco-based company specializing in global freight forwarding and customs brokerage services. It offers an online platform that simplifies and streamlines international trade for businesses. Flexport's services include customs clearance, freight transportation by ocean, air, and road, along with value-added services such as cargo insurance, warehousing, and trade finance. The company's user-friendly dashboard enables clients to understand, purchase, manage, and track these services in real-time, optimizing their supply chain and logistics operations.

Beam

Seed Round in 2018
Beam Mobility Holdings Pte. Ltd. is a micro-mobility company that offers electric scooters for rent through a user-friendly mobile application. Established in 2018 and based in Singapore, Beam aims to enhance urban mobility by providing a network of shared e-scooters that can be easily accessed on a pay-per-use basis. The company promotes responsible parking by incentivizing users to return scooters to designated parking spots, thereby minimizing clutter on city streets. By leveraging Internet of Things technology, Beam contributes to improved last-mile connectivity, helps alleviate traffic congestion, and supports environmental sustainability efforts.

Cargo

Series A in 2018
Cargo Systems, Inc. operates a mobile marketplace designed for selling products to passengers in transit, primarily through rideshare services. The company's platform, known as Cargo, enables passengers to order a diverse range of products, including snacks, electronics, and health and beauty items, delivered directly to them without the need for a dedicated app. Founded in 2016 by former employees of Birchbox, Cargo initially launched in New York and Boston and has since expanded its reach across 49 states. The company collaborates with rideshare drivers and brand partners to facilitate this unique in-car shopping experience, providing an opportunity for drivers to earn additional income while enhancing passenger convenience. Cargo is headquartered in New York, New York, and has received backing from various venture capital firms.

Flexport

Corporate Round in 2018
Flexport, established in 2013, is a San Francisco-based company specializing in global freight forwarding and customs brokerage services. It offers an online platform that simplifies and streamlines international trade for businesses. Flexport's services include customs clearance, freight transportation by ocean, air, and road, along with value-added services such as cargo insurance, warehousing, and trade finance. The company's user-friendly dashboard enables clients to understand, purchase, manage, and track these services in real-time, optimizing their supply chain and logistics operations.

Flexport

Series C in 2017
Flexport, established in 2013, is a San Francisco-based company specializing in global freight forwarding and customs brokerage services. It offers an online platform that simplifies and streamlines international trade for businesses. Flexport's services include customs clearance, freight transportation by ocean, air, and road, along with value-added services such as cargo insurance, warehousing, and trade finance. The company's user-friendly dashboard enables clients to understand, purchase, manage, and track these services in real-time, optimizing their supply chain and logistics operations.

HyperTrack

Series A in 2017
HyperTrack is a location technology company that provides a cloud platform for developers to build and operate location-based applications. Its solution delivers a plug-and-play location stack with APIs to track movement, meter distance and time, generate live ETAs, replay routes with event annotations, and trigger programmable alerts. The platform supports features such as finding nearest users for smart assignments, capturing location data in dashboards, and requesting tracking when a user is en route to a destination. It targets the on-demand economy, including food, transport, logistics, field service, sales, and gig-work applications, and its SDKs support iOS, Android, React Native, and Cordova. HyperTrack was founded in 2015 and is based in Foster City, California.

Trade Ghana

Seed Round in 2017
Trade Ghana operates a trading platform that connects buyers, sellers, and transporters of commodities, primarily focusing on small-scale farmers in the country. The platform enables direct transactions between buyers and sellers, eliminating middlemen and allowing users to specify their desired quantity, grade, and price. Trade Ghana ensures quality by weighing and grading each bag of commodity traded, and it offers a commitment to customer satisfaction by accepting returns on rejected bags. In addition to facilitating trades, the platform provides essential market information, payment handling, and transportation arrangements, which support efficient trading and enhance agricultural production monitoring in Ghana.

Flexport

Series B in 2016
Flexport, established in 2013, is a San Francisco-based company specializing in global freight forwarding and customs brokerage services. It offers an online platform that simplifies and streamlines international trade for businesses. Flexport's services include customs clearance, freight transportation by ocean, air, and road, along with value-added services such as cargo insurance, warehousing, and trade finance. The company's user-friendly dashboard enables clients to understand, purchase, manage, and track these services in real-time, optimizing their supply chain and logistics operations.

Flexport

Series A in 2015
Flexport, established in 2013, is a San Francisco-based company specializing in global freight forwarding and customs brokerage services. It offers an online platform that simplifies and streamlines international trade for businesses. Flexport's services include customs clearance, freight transportation by ocean, air, and road, along with value-added services such as cargo insurance, warehousing, and trade finance. The company's user-friendly dashboard enables clients to understand, purchase, manage, and track these services in real-time, optimizing their supply chain and logistics operations.

Lyft

Series D in 2014
Lyft is a transportation company that designs, markets, and operates a mobile application that connects riders with drivers for private and shared rides, with in-app payment and the ability to schedule trips in advance. The platform has expanded to multimodal options, including bike- and scooter-sharing, to provide integrated transportation options. Founded in 2013 and publicly listed in 2019, Lyft is the second-largest ride-sharing service provider in the United States and Canada, serving diverse user segments including college, university, and corporate communities.

Lyft

Series C in 2013
Lyft is a transportation company that designs, markets, and operates a mobile application that connects riders with drivers for private and shared rides, with in-app payment and the ability to schedule trips in advance. The platform has expanded to multimodal options, including bike- and scooter-sharing, to provide integrated transportation options. Founded in 2013 and publicly listed in 2019, Lyft is the second-largest ride-sharing service provider in the United States and Canada, serving diverse user segments including college, university, and corporate communities.

Lyft

Series B in 2013
Lyft is a transportation company that designs, markets, and operates a mobile application that connects riders with drivers for private and shared rides, with in-app payment and the ability to schedule trips in advance. The platform has expanded to multimodal options, including bike- and scooter-sharing, to provide integrated transportation options. Founded in 2013 and publicly listed in 2019, Lyft is the second-largest ride-sharing service provider in the United States and Canada, serving diverse user segments including college, university, and corporate communities.

SmartDrive Systems

Series D in 2007
Founded in 2004, SmartDrive Systems provides driver safety and fuel management solutions for commercial fleets worldwide. Its core offerings include SmartDrive Safety (video-based driver coaching), SmartDrive Fuel (fuel performance analytics), SmartIQ (real-time actionable fleet data), and SmartRecorder (event recording system). The company employs over 400 people globally, with headquarters in San Diego, California.

SmartDrive Systems

Series C in 2007
Founded in 2004, SmartDrive Systems provides driver safety and fuel management solutions for commercial fleets worldwide. Its core offerings include SmartDrive Safety (video-based driver coaching), SmartDrive Fuel (fuel performance analytics), SmartIQ (real-time actionable fleet data), and SmartRecorder (event recording system). The company employs over 400 people globally, with headquarters in San Diego, California.
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