ClearJet, an AI-enabled logistics know-how startup, has raised a $25 million Collection B, it tells Crunchbase Information completely.
Edison Companions led the increase, which brings the Austin-based startup’s whole funding to $40 million since its 2022 inception. Returning backers Venture53, Origin Ventures, SaltVC and SpringTime Ventures additionally participated within the spherical. ClearJet’s earlier buyers embody Sky VC, previously JetBlue Ventures, and Tandem Ventures.
ClearJet’s mannequin is easy. Reasonably than construct its personal fleet of planes or vehicles, it connects shippers with unused cargo capability on business flights already touring between U.S. cities to maneuver e-commerce packages across the U.S. Prospects embody main multibillion-dollar retailers, e-commerce platforms, 3PLs and marketplaces.
In simply three years, the startup has constructed what founder and CEO Chris Guggenheim calls a “tremendous service,” a community that now spans 95 U.S. airports and connects retailers with main U.S. airways and a number of final-mile supply suppliers. This community offers retailers a option to ship packages in order that they journey immediately between cities on passenger planes already within the air fairly than via the normal networks utilized by main parcel carriers.
Not like a standard parcel service, ClearJet doesn’t personal the planes transporting these packages. As a substitute, its asset-light “Uber for cargo” mannequin faucets accessible capability on flights which are already touring between cities. The startup says its strategy can reduce transport prices by as a lot as 35% whereas rushing deliveries by one to a few days.
“We’re principally connecting with the already shifting plane,” Guggenheim advised Crunchbase Information in an interview. “These flights are going from A to B metropolis. We’re taking those self same routes, and that’s simply why we’re so quick. That’s additionally why we’re so value environment friendly.”
The strategy seems to be working. ClearJet is worthwhile, its income has greater than tripled 12 months over 12 months, and it’s approaching 9 figures in top-line income, in line with Guggenheim.
The market alternative remains to be giant. The startup says it strikes greater than 30 million packages yearly, which remains to be a fraction of the roughly 1.8 billion U.S. parcels it considers eligible to maneuver by air.
World funding to provide chain administration and logistics startups has reached $8.4 billion in 2026 up to now, per Crunchbase knowledge. This places this 12 months on tempo to prime 2025’s whole of $9 billion contemplating we have now over 4 months left within the 12 months.
Retailers hook up with ClearJet via an API and might generate a two-day transport label. ClearJet picks up the packages, takes them to an airport, handles sorting and screening, locations them on business flights, after which injects them into final-mile networks at their vacation spot. These suppliers can embody FedEx, the U.S. Postal Service, DoorDash, Uber, OnTrac and Veho, Guggenheim mentioned.
“We name it the tremendous service as a result of it really is that, and it offers all the facility again to the retailer,” Guggenheim mentioned in an interview with Crunchbase Information.
Considered one of ClearJet’s first giant retail prospects had beforehand relied on FedEx for items arriving from Asia, with deliveries taking seven days from manufacturing unit to buyer, in line with Guggenheim. Underneath ClearJet’s mannequin, merchandise arrive at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport, the place the corporate takes possession of the cargo, types it and flies it into 14 completely different airports earlier than handing the packages to final-mile carriers.
The consequence, Guggenheim mentioned, was a discount in supply time from seven days to 5 — and $35 million in value financial savings for the purchasers.
That mixture of time and value financial savings was what caught Edison Companions’ consideration.
Ryan Ziegler, who leads the agency’s vertical SaaS and AI follow, advised Crunchbase Information that Edison had spent years methods to make use of extra capability in provide chains with out requiring corporations to make large investments in bodily infrastructure.
“We checked out a number of provide chain companies through the years,” Ziegler mentioned. “Candidly, most of them went bankrupt as a result of they took an asset-heavy strategy to the center mile.”
ClearJet took the asset-light strategy. And the corporate’s airline relationships, regional sortation infrastructure, regulatory license and know-how structure make it tough to repeat its mannequin, in line with Ziegler.
“When you concentrate on what they constructed, it’s a very distinctive aviation infrastructure platform, and it’s tough to copy,” he mentioned. “He’s [Guggenheim] confirmed the enterprise mannequin, and the unit economics work.”
The concept for ClearJet grew out of Guggenheim’s personal frustrations as a longtime e-commerce entrepreneur.
He began his first firm in 1997 after assembly Willie Nelson and his household and constructing direct-to-fan e-commerce companies for them. Guggenheim later labored with a variety of music and sports activities shoppers, together with serving to launch the primary beyonce.com. His firm One Dwell went on to assist greater than 2,000 Shopify Plus shops with over $1 billion in GMV, he mentioned.
Alongside the best way, logistics grew to become one in all his greatest complications.
Transport had change into the second-largest value of products exterior of the product itself for his enterprise, he mentioned. And in 2019, after spending $55 million with UPS, Guggenheim mentioned he acquired an e-mail giving him 5 days’ discover that his account was being canceled as a result of it wasn’t worthwhile sufficient.
“And so I mentioned, ‘there must be a greater manner,’ ” he mentioned.
Guggenheim started fascinated about the hundreds of home passenger flights touring across the U.S. each day and questioning whether or not their unused cargo house might change into a part of another parcel community.
He had no connections with the airways, he mentioned, so he started cold-emailing executives till he reached the president of United Cargo. At a cargo business occasion, Guggenheim received about 5 minutes to pitch his thought in what he now calls his “Shark Tank second.”
“I mentioned, ‘I need to begin flying packages from LA to New York. Do you’ve any flights?’” Guggenheim recalled. “And he put his arm round me and mentioned, ‘You and I are going to be finest mates.’”
Guggenheim went on to construct relationships with United, Delta, Southwest, American and JetBlue, the latter of which participated in an earlier ClearJet financing. He additionally started recruiting folks from the airline and parcel industries and constructing the know-how underpinning the community. ClearJet formally launched in Might 2023.
One logistical impediment was the plane themselves. Guggenheim mentioned most U.S. passenger plane are narrow-body planes whose cargo doorways are too small to accommodate the pallets sometimes moved by freight forwarders.
ClearJet addressed this by designing its personal overpack baggage particularly for e-commerce parcels. These baggage can journey via airports very like passenger baggage earlier than being unloaded and handed to the suitable supply firm.
ClearJet’s AI fashions select every parcel’s path primarily based on value, velocity and geography throughout its community. AI can also be constructed into how ClearJet routes packages. Its fashions select a parcel’s path primarily based on components together with value, velocity and geography.
The corporate can also be growing AI brokers to automate extra of the operational work round these shipments.
For instance, ClearJet is creating AI brokers to deal with duties reminiscent of ranking, reserving, monitoring and managing supply issues, in line with Guggenheim.
This contains options reminiscent of responding to climate disruptions by shifting packages onto a unique flight or via a unique metropolis, one thing ClearJet can do as a result of it isn’t tied to only one airline.
“We’re constructing a complete agent group, a military of brokers that do the whole lot that the people have been doing,” Guggenheim mentioned.
ClearJet raised its seed spherical in early 2023 and $13.4 million in a Collection A in 2024, in line with Guggenheim. He declined to reveal the corporate’s valuation however described the Collection B as a major step-up from its earlier financing.
Subsequent, ClearJet plans to develop into returns and worldwide transport, and develop its community of airports. Guggenheim additionally needs to offer customers rather more detailed visibility into the place packages are throughout their journeys, much like the real-time expertise they’ve change into accustomed to with companies reminiscent of DoorDash.
“We now have a extremely huge urge for food for giving customers a greater visible expertise with their packages,” he mentioned.
For Ziegler, the larger guess is that ClearJet can change into infrastructure for a supply market more and more constructed round getting merchandise on to particular person customers.
“We noticed this as a possibility to truly create a category-defining enterprise,” he mentioned.
ClearJet has just below 50 full-time staff and tons of of contractors working seven days every week.
Associated Crunchbase question:
Illustration: Dom Guzman
Keep updated with latest funding rounds, acquisitions, and extra with the
Crunchbase Day by day.
