AI Logistics Startup Augment Secures $85M Series A to Revolutionize Freight Operations

AI logistics startup Augment, from Deliverr's founder, raises massive $85M Series A | TechCrunch

Having built and sold e-commerce shipping startup Deliverr to Shopify for $2.1 billion in 2022, co-founder and CEO Harish Abbott knows the logistics industry well. Abbott felt that many manual tasks in logistics could be automated using AI. That's why last year he launched Augment which offers an AI assistant called 'Augie' that can take over tedious and repetitive work performed by freight shippers, carriers and brokers. On Thursday, Augment announced that it raised an $85 million Series A led by Redpoint, with participation from 8VC, Autotech Ventures, and others. The massive round comes just five months after the startup launched out of stealth with a hefty $25 million seed round. "Freight and logistics is a very large industry that employs lots of people who are busy chasing emails, documents, phone calls, text messages all day long," Abbott told TechCrunch. "Augie can take care of all that like their own personal assistant, so they can focus on relationships and negotiations." Today, Augie can perform seven key tasks in the logistics process, from gathering and reviewing pricing bids from trucking companies and tracking packages en route, to building a load -- the method of combining multiple shipments to maximize truck space -- and collecting invoicing documents to ensure timely billing. All of these processes typically involve numerous phone calls, emails, or texts exchanged between various participants in the logistics process. Augie can help humans streamline those communications by operating across multiple channels like voice, email, Slack, SMS, and Telegram. While Augment is not disclosing its revenue, Abbott says the company has more than doubled the number of customers it serves since raising its seed round. Although many customers are still trialling the product, fully onboarded clients like Armstrong Transport Group are already achieving significant productivity gains with Augment, such as a 40% reduction in invoice delays. Jacob Effron, a managing director at Redpoint, said he invested in Augment after speaking with a number of Augment's clients. "The customer feedback is honestly amazing. People really love the product. I think they use it in quite a ubiquitous way." The large funding round will go toward hiring 50 engineers and then working on adding more features. "It is a large, fragmented market. It's complex, it's messy. The systems are a bit archaic and siloed," Abbott said. "We have to have many engineers because there's lots of software systems these companies use." The company is currently serving the trucking industry, but its long-term vision is to expand into international shipping and other aspects of logistics. Abbott is not alone in pursuing AI for logistics. Other AI assistants for freight management include Vooma and FleetWorks. Meanwhile, shipping giants FedEx and UPS have said on their earnings calls that they are building in-house AI assistants to facilitate freight movements. But all the competition doesn't phase Abbott. "We have tremendous adoption," he said. "Augie does really cool stuff. Augie is really thinking ahead and reasoning like a human and acting on it, so it saves everybody a lot of time."

Augment raises $85M to expand AI 'teammate' for logistics - SiliconANGLE

Artificial intelligence productivity platform startup Augment Technologies Inc. announced today that it has raised $85 million in early-stage funding to accelerate the development of Augie, Augment's flagship AI teammate for logistics. It also aims to apply the Series A round to expand Augie to more end-to-end logistics workflows for shippers, brokers, carriers and distributors. Founded in 2024, Augment is building an AI-driven productivity platform tailored specifically for logistics. The company was co-founded by Harish Abbott, the co‑founder of Deliverr Inc., which was acquired by Shopify Inc. for $2.1 billion. He brings deep logistics and technology expertise to tackle one of the world's largest and most fragmented industries. Augment's flagship offering, Augie, is an AI "teammate" created to automate and streamline the complex workflows that freight operators handle daily. Augie differs from traditional automation tools that are limited to narrow tasks or single channels by being able to navigate across email, phone, transportation management systems, portals and chat platforms to manage the full order‑to‑cash lifecycle. Augie can proactively quote, dispatch, track, schedule, gather documents and process billing, all while reducing load touches and freeing human operators to focus on higher‑value tasks. Since launching in March, Augie has seen rapid uptake. It says dozens of top third‑party logistics providers and shippers having adopted it, with the technology now overseeing over $35  billion in freight. Frontline users have reported major operational gains, with one company, Armstrong Transport Group, having doubled their daily loads, having their billing cycles shrink by more than a week, seeing invoice delays decline by 40% and gross margins per load have improved by more than 5%. According to Augment, some customers anticipate millions of dollars in payroll savings as Augie handles tracking and trace work. "Logistics runs on millions of decisions -- under pressure, across fragmented systems and with too many tabs open," said Chief Executive Abbott. "Augie doesn't just assist. It takes ownership." The Series A round was led by Redpoint Ventures LP, with 8VC Management, Shopify Ventures and Autotech Ventures also participating. "Customers consistently highlight Augment's speed, deeply collaborative approach and transformative impact on productivity," said Jacob Effron, managing director at Redpoint Ventures. "Augment pairs unmatched logistics expertise with rapid innovation, uniquely positioning them to redefine how logistics operates." The new funding takes the total amount raised by Augment to $110 million.