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JB Hunt Partners on Logistics Venture Lab

[ November 1, 2024   //   ]

North American supply chain solution provider J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. and UP.Labs have established the Logistics Venture Lab, to explore innovation in transportation and mobility.
The logistics and freight-focused lab aims to launch as many as six startups over the next three years to solve core strategic challenges within the industry. J.B. Hunt represents UP.Labs’ fourth corporate partnership, following collaborations with Porsche AG, Alaska Airlines and an undisclosed retail corporate partner.
“Through the Logistics Venture Lab, we will launch startups rooted in big data, GenAI, and emerging technologies to solve industry problems with some of the world’s best entrepreneurs,” said John Kuolt, founder & CEO of UP.Labs. Following collaborations that have included Porsche AG and Alaska Airlines, “we’re excited to bring our unique venture lab model to a new transportation sector – logistics and freight.”
The startups, the first of which the companies target to begin launching in 2025, are inspired by opportunities to drive efficiency and solve common problems faced by providers in the logistics and freight transportation space. They will focus on key industry service areas such as brokerage, dedicated, intermodal and truckload, among others.
“From the inception of modern intermodal transit to digital freight matching platforms to emerging safety technology and beyond, J.B. Hunt has … been on an innovation journey since our founding in 1961,” said Shelley Simpson, president and CEO at J.B. Hunt. “Our collaboration with UP.Labs will continue this journey as we look for new ways to disrupt, adapt and accelerate across the transportation industry.”
UP.Labs is a venture lab and a core part of the UP.Partners ecosystem, which includes mobility investment fund UP.Ventures and the annual UP.Summit, an innovation event to rethink the future of transportation.
Since its founding in 2022, UP.Labs has worked with corporate partners to identify their most pressing challenges and launch startups built by proven entrepreneurs, product leaders, and technologists to develop transformative solutions. Once matured, the corporate partners will have the option to acquire them.

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