Apkudo Raises $14M in Series B Funding Round

By STS News Desk On Nov 3, 2020

Funding to accelerate vertical expansion and product innovation for its connected device platform

Apkudo, the leader in supply chain automation for connected devices, today announced that it has raised $14 Million in Series B funding led by Harbert Growth Partners and MissionOG, with significant participation from existing investors Grotech Ventures and Lavrock Ventures. With this new capital, Apkudo plans to accelerate the global expansion of its Hive Device Platform across emerging channels and verticals.

Founded in 2011 by Josh Matthews and Ben Leslie, Apkudo’s Hive provides a universal system for managing connected devices across the entire supply chain by securely bridging internal systems and external partners into a single, secure platform. With powerful artificial intelligence enhanced test software and high volume robotics for diagnostics and cosmetic grading, the Hive platform brings the full power of the extended enterprise to provide automated answers to the question, “What do I do with this device, right now?”

Apkudo’s Hive connects internal systems across the enterprise with ease — unlocking powerful data from silos to enable real-time decisions. By enabling customers to connect their ecosystem partners to the Hive platform, Apkudo delivers improved supply chain efficiencies via a single operating system. The result is a flexible platform that reduces complex processes into collaborative business applications.

“Hive is powering the beginning of a major evolution in how connected devices are managed throughout the complete device lifecycle and end-to-end supply chain,” said Josh Matthews, CEO and co-founder of Apkudo. “We are excited about our new partnership with Harbert Growth Partners and MissionOG as well as the continued exceptional support from Grotech and Lavrock, all experts in accelerating and scaling high-growth businesses, to further invest in our goal to manage every connected device in the global supply chain.”

“While software has eaten the world, automation is the practice of using software to execute, manage and automate events and processes. Apkudo enables us to uncover new insights, unlock innovation and unleash a competitive advantage grounded in supply chain optimization,” said Tevon Taylor, Managing Director at FedEx Supply Chain. “We see the gap between forward and reverse logistics closing with opportunities to create solutions that directly benefit our customers. In a world where supply chain decisions need to be made quickly and correctly, we view Apkudo as a strategic partner that directly enables us to deliver excellence to our customers.”

Global sales of supply chain management software are forecasted to grow to $24.5 billion in 2025 from $14.3 billion in 2019. Customers of Apkudo include smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung and LG, leading mobile carriers including AT&T Mexico, T-Mobile and Verizon and global eCommerce marketplaces like Amazon.

“We are excited to partner with Apkudo at this time to accelerate growth of their industry-leading Hive platform across new customer segments and use cases,” said Brian Carney, General Partner of Harbert Growth Partners. “Apkudo has built a talented management team and this funding will enable them to continue identifying new opportunities to create value for stakeholders across the connected device ecosystem.”

“In a post-Covid economy, forward-thinking enterprises are rearchitecting current processes to provide better supply chain visibility and risk management. This concern is magnified in the connected device market where transparency and real-time visibility are necessary,” remarked George Krautzel, managing partner of MissionOG. “With the current and future proliferation of smart devices for both consumers and businesses, Apkudo is well-positioned to help enterprise companies handle this challenge and become the standard for their industry.”

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