News

Logistics-software maker FourKites just tracked down $13 million in fresh capital.

Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures led the funding, along with earlier local investors Hyde Park Venture Partners and Hyde Park Angels, as well as Jim Perry of Madison Dearborn Partners and Jai Shekhawat, founder of Fieldglass. Otter Consulting of Boca Raton, Fla., also participated.

Bain also is an investor in Chicago-based startup Hireology and e-commerce company Jet.com.

FourKites was launched three years ago by Mathew Elenjickal, who was getting his MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. The company’s software is on electronic devices that companies now are required to install inside trucks to monitor how much time drivers are behind the wheel. FourKites’ software allows companies to track shipments from the warehouse to their destinations.

FourKites has quickly assembled a long list of large customers, including Staples. Though he declines to name the others, Elenjickal says they include three of the top 10 food manufacturers in the U.S., two of the top five food distributors, a large apparel retailer and three big logistics-services providers.

The company has grown to 40 people from a dozen a year ago. Elenjickal plans to hire another 100 workers in the next year, especially in support and operations, to handle an influx of customers. He recently hired a new chief operating officer, Stephanie Kolaczynski, from San Francisco-based Zenefits.

FourKites previously raised $3.5 million. Elenjickal says some potential backers wanted him to move the company to the West Coast, but he declined. “We believe if you’re building a tech company, it helps to be close to your customers.”

Chicago is a hotbed of logistics companies, such as CH Robinson, Echo Global Logistics and Coyote Logistics, as well as related tech companies, such as Project44.