Can Pallet's CoPallet AI Workforce Transform Your Logistics Operations? $27 Million Backing Secured – DC Velocity

California firm says its platform automates repetitive processes in logistics workflows.
The San Francisco supply chain tech startup Pallet today said it has raised $27 million in backing for its artificial intelligence product that automates repetitive processes in logistics workflows, such as order entry, portal updates, and quoting.
The “series B” round was led by General Catalyst, with continued support from Bain Capital Ventures, Activant Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners, and brings its total funding raised to $50 million. According to Pallet, the raise comes amid surging demand from logistics operators under intense pressure to reduce costs as global tariffs and economic headwinds reshape supply chain economics.
According to the firm, its CoPallet product is an AI workforce that completes logistics workflows 10 times faster and at half the cost of traditional staffing. That allows operators to preserve profits without sacrificing service quality as they struggle with mounting tariffs and cost pressures.
Pallet will use the funding to expand its product and engineering teams and scale its AI workforce to meet the needs of its rapidly growing customer base across freight brokers, third party logistics providers, freight forwarders, carriers, and shippers.
“General Catalyst believes the next wave of iconic companies will come from applied AI — purpose-built systems that solve real, high-friction problems in massive industries,” Marc Bhargava, Managing Director at General Catalyst, said in a release. “Pallet is doing exactly that for logistics, and we believe has the potential to be a multi-billion dollar opportunity.”
Uber Freight today launched an artificial intelligence (AI) tool embedded into its transportation management system (TMS) and logistics platform, saying the technology could help shippers gain better decisions, faster execution, and stronger performance.
And the Chicago company said it will add more AI to its software systems by the end of 2025, enabling its TMS to “evolve beyond a system of record to become a real-time logistics command center that proactively guides users of all sizes with intelligence and automated repetitive tasks.”
The advancements bring to market more than 30 AI agents automating execution across the shipment lifecycle, while its generative AI tool—called “Insights AI”—delivers always-on recommendations to help shippers using the TMS to proactively navigate disruption, reduce cost, and improve service across their networks.
According to Uber Freight, those AI agents manage procurement, execution, tracking, payments, and analytics––thus freeing human logistics teams to focus on strategic priorities such as exception management, cost control, and network optimization.
“Logistics is one of the most complex, data-rich industries on Earth, and it demands AI that’s purpose-built to understand it,” Raj Subbiah, Chief Product Officer of Uber Freight, said in a release. “We built a domain-specific model that thinks like a logistics expert. That foundation enables us to proactively and continuously optimize our customers' networks.”
Transportation artificial intelligence (AI) provider Optimal Dynamics has raised $40 million of financing for technology that the New York-based company says will reshape decision-making across the trucking industry by building the first-ever autonomous decision layer of logistics.
The “series C” financing round was led by the venture capital firm Koch Disruptive Technologies.
The new investment comes after Optimal Dynamics earlier this year partnered with third party logistics provider (3PL) KBX Logistics, another Koch company. Green Bay, Wisconsin-based KBX says Optimal Dynamics' platform is capable of driving operational and financial performance gains by automating and optimizing complex logistics operations at scale.
"Optimal Dynamics stands apart because it isn't merely automating existing processes – it is redefining them," Byron Knight, President at Koch Disruptive Technologies, said in a release. "In today's uncertain freight environment, the clarity, efficiency, and profitability that Optimal Dynamics brings are essential.”
According to Optimal Dynamics, the new capital infusion will help accelerate expansion of its platform capabilities, and scale product, support, and sales teams to meet demand for decision automation in logistics.
Fleet operators are seeing measurable returns from artificial intelligence (AI), even as their use of traditional practices and implementation lingers on, according to a survey from Penske.
An industry survey shows that 70% of companies now report adopting AI solutions, up 17 percentage points from 2024. And that new technology is leading to improvements in fleet planning (36%), route optimization (35%), and operational efficiency (34%).
But fleet leaders also acknowledge they have work ahead to fully harness the potential of AI, with 84% of executives still believing the industry lags behind other sectors in adopting AI, a number that’s up 20 percentage points since 2024.
The results come from Penske’s “2025 Transportation Leaders Survey: A Road to AI Adoption,” conducted online from April 16-23 by Big Village among a sample of 255 U.S. adults 18 years of age and older who are owners, founders, or executive leaders or decision makers of a Transportations or Logistics businesses.
According to Penske, the data reveals a shift from theoretical benefit to tangible impact. That impact can be traced to specific areas: about four in ten respondents say their organizations have achieved at least 50% savings in fuel costs, operational expenditures, and distance traveled through AI-powered route optimization. And leaders are also seeing gains in driver safety, customer satisfaction, and visibility across the supply chain.
The survey also shows that the industry stands at a transition between innovation and legacy strategies. A commanding 94% of respondents still rely on traditional annual forecasting to guide fleet planning, but at the same time, an even larger 97% agree that benchmarking with real-time data is becoming essential to navigate economic uncertainty and sudden market shifts.
And while AI is beginning to deliver real improvements, it’s not a panacea; many fleets are still struggling to navigate current challenges. Executives cite challenges with rising costs (52%), supply chain disruptions (45%), and managing fleet operations (40%). And fleet operations jumped 10 percentage points as a top concern year-over-year, indicating increasing complexity as fleets grow and customer expectations rise.
Likewise, fleet leaders are clear-eyed about the potential risks of AI, as well as its benefits. Security risks (49%), limited regulation governing (36%), and fears of unethical use (35%) are top of mind, the survey found.
Logistics tech vendor Blue Yonder today launched a family of artificial intelligence (AI) agents designed to enhance speed and agility in supply chain management, becoming the latest software firm to offer platforms that use AI to find solutions to the severe supply chain snarls being triggered by steep U.S. tariffs on global trade.
Blue Yonder said its AI agents can automatically act and make decisions to help reduce waste by optimizing supply chains and enabling faster, smarter decision-making. The package includes five AI agents in the areas of inventory management, retail shelf planograms, logistics schedules, warehouse operations, and network orchestration.
The Dallas company also announced a Tariffs Agent that it said can help customers quickly find solutions and alternatives to minimize the negative impact of trade restrictions on their organizations.
The technology becomes the latest example of software firms offering artificial intelligence as a potential solution for tariff impacts, as U.S. companies scramble to find ways to dodge forecasted trade war impacts like higher costs of material, rising prices for consumers, and inventory shortages.
Other examples of AI-based tariff tools from supply chain tech vendors include:
** Exiger’s Tariff Intelligence, a central hub to forecast and triage tariff impacts at all levels of the supply chain
** Resilinc’s Agentic AI platform, including Tariffs & Trade Compliance Agents, which deploys intelligent agents that proactively detect disruptions, recommend responses, and even act autonomously under governed conditions
** KPMG's tariff modeler, which helps users enhance their preparedness for trade disruption, potentially minimize financial impacts, and maintain strategic focus despite policy uncertainty.
** Roambee’s Global Trade Lane Risk Planning Platform, which delivers Lane Risk Scores to help global supply chain leaders who are worried not only how much duty they'll pay, but also whether their product will arrive safely, on time, and without disruption.
** Kodiak Hub’s supplier relationship management (SRM) platform that helps procurement and supply chain leaders assess supplier readiness, risk, and compliance in real-time.
"Tariff shifts and trade restrictions don't just strike a single border, they ricochet through every screw, chip, and chemical inside a product that may cross half a dozen countries before it arrives at a hospital, smartphone, or data center near you," Exiger CEO Brandon Daniels said in a release. "Exiger's Tariff Intelligence gives companies a live, part-level x-ray of that exposure and an AI playbook to pivot production, sourcing, and routing to drive resilience and profitability. Our goal is to steer our customers through tariff turbulence into a margin-positive, resilient supply chain—whether final assembly lands in Michigan, Munich, or Manila."
Global container carrier CMA CGM Group is committing $110 million over five years to deploy “bespoke” artificial intelligence (AI) solutions provided by fellow French company Mistral AI in support of its shipping, logistics, and media activities.
CMA CGM and Mistral AI have now launched a five-year strategic partnership that will pair a dedicated team of Mistral AI’s international specialists with CMA CGM’s in-house experts. That new team will be based at the CMA CGM Group’s headquarters in Marseille, as well as at Grand Central—the headquarters of CMA Media.
That umbrella group will include two dedicated teams. The first is “Mistral AI Factory” assigned to accelerate AI adoption in shipping and logistics by streamlining and personalizing the customer experience through solutions such as automated claims processing, intelligent e-commerce tools, and advanced document management systems.
And the second is “AI Media Lab,” assigned to unite Mistral AI experts, journalists, and media professionals in creating initiatives like intelligent content management and an innovative fact-checking system, aimed at enhancing information reliability and addressing the evolving challenges of modern journalism.

According to the partners, the approach will also empower TANGRAM, CMA CGM’s center of excellence for learning and innovation, by enhancing its AI training programs and equipping employees across the Group to effectively harness these new technologies.
The CMA CGM Group says it structures its AI strategy around three key pillars: equipping employees with tailored AI-driven tools, offering an AI-optimized customer experience, and transforming its core activities across shipping, logistics, and media. Through TANGRAM, the Group has the capacity to train up to 3,000 employees each year in these rapidly evolving technologies.

“This partnership with Mistral AI marks a decisive step in the transformation of CMA CGM through artificial intelligence,” Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of CMA CGM Group, said in a release. “Together, we will develop tailored solutions to reinvent our businesses, from maritime transport to logistics and media, with tangible benefits for our customers and our employees. With Mistral AI, we are choosing a French technology leader that combines excellence, digital sovereignty, and a strong sense of responsibility, to build an artificial intelligence that serves both our performance and our values.”

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