The founders of Chattanooga-based Dynamo Ventures have raised $43.2 million for their next round of investments in logistics startups around the world, thanks in part to supply chain challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We no longer have to explain the importance and relevance of supply chain and supply chain technology,” said Santosh Sankar, a co-founder of Dynamo. “Prior to the pandemic, people asked, ‘What is this thing, why are you doing this?’ We no longer have to answer that question.”
Launched in 2016 with $18 million in funding, Dynamo focuses on supporting startups dedicated to solving the massive, complex puzzle that is supply chain logistics in an increasingly global and technology-driven world.
“When we started in 2016 with our first fund, it wasn’t quite clear that we could build a big giant franchise supporting technology and innovation in supply chain,” Sankar said. “But as [limited partners] studied us on a quantitative basis, even though it’s very early, we have a fund that is a top 5% performer as it compares to other funds raised in 2016 focused on seed stage investment.”
Dynamo co-founders Barry Large, Ted Alling and Allan Davis launched Access America Transport in 2002 in Chattanooga. Access America became one of the city’s most successful startups, with sales of about $600 million in 2014. That year, Access America was acquired by Coyote Logistics of Chicago. About a year later, Atlanta-based giant UPS acquired Coyote Logistics for about $1.8 billion.