Global supply chains are under strain, in part because of a lack of visibility into how cargo is being transported around the world. In one recent study, nearly half of the organizations surveyed reported having little or no visibility into their upstream supply chain.
Looking for a solution, Klenner Komoni, who spent years helping his father-in-law track truck fleets, founded Tive, a startup that develops technology to accurately identify cargo shipments in real time.
Tive sells disposable tracking devices that can be linked to its cloud platform to help companies in industries such as life sciences and food and beverage check the status of their shipments. In addition to tracking location, Tive's sensors can monitor temperature, humidity, light, and “shocks,” or physically violent movements.
Through Tive's cloud platform, customers get real-time alerts, analytics, and data sharing tools.
“The Tiv tracker generated millions of real-time shipping alerts,” Komoni said in an interview with TechCrunch. “Our trackers offer a three-pronged approach to location accuracy, combining cellular triangulation, Wi-Fi positioning, and GPS.”
Tive didn't start out as a freight tracking company. In its early days, the startup focused on helping truckers and truckers track their vehicles. But Komoni, who has a background in radio frequency and chip design engineering, saw a far greater opportunity in monitoring the shipments themselves.
One of Tive's wireless tracking devices. Image credit: Tive
Tive currently claims to have more than 900 customers in sectors such as pharmaceuticals and “high-value” goods, as well as military and government customers. Komoni said the company generates revenue from these customers in a variety of ways, including annual software fees for its cloud platform, tracker sales and shipment monitoring services.
Komoni expects Tive to reach profitability in 2026.
“Tive is well-positioned to weather a broad technology slowdown or downturn because we are focused on supply chain solutions for all types of goods, including durable goods, nondurables, fresh produce, industrial, and consumer goods. ,” Komoni said. “Despite the usual freight downturn since the end of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Tive has consistently grown by more than 50% year-on-year, and will accelerate in 2025. I expect it to grow.”
To expand its Boston-based workforce of approximately 243 employees, Tive recently raised a $40 million Series C round co-led by World Innovation Lab and Sageview Capital with participation from AVP, RRE Ventures, and Two. raised dollars.
Sigma Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Fifth Wall, Supply Chain Ventures, Sorenson Capital.
This new capital brings Tive's total raised to $120 million. In addition to hiring, Komoni said the new funding will go toward developing new products, expanding Tive's sustainability programs (including its tracker recycling program), and bringing the platform to more countries. .