RueData secures seed round for tire optimization platform

RueData has closed a seed financing round to continue serving over 40,000 vehicles, with plans to use the investment to accelerate adoption of its tire management platform, scale operations and continue innovating its AI-driven fleet optimization solutions for trucking fleets. The round was led by Valor Ventures with participation from Decelera Ventures, Idea Foundry and industry angel investors.

For RueData founder and CEO Sebastian Baquero, the funding, announced Thursday at SXSW in Austin, Texas, is the next step in a journey that began long before RueData was founded in 2018. Baquero’s career in the trucking industry started with importing and selling tires at just 21 years old. Through years of experience working directly with fleets, he gained firsthand insight into one of the industry’s most overlooked cost centers.

After fuel, tires are fleets’ biggest expense, “yet they’re often treated as an inventory problem rather than an optimization challenge,” Baquero explained to FreightWaves. “We realized that with the right technology, we could predict and prevent unnecessary tire wear, reduce blowouts and save fleets substantial costs.”

This realization led Baquero to pivot from tire sales to developing a software solution. RueData’s platform centralizes tire data, factors in variables like vehicle type, cargo weight, routes and weather conditions, and provides fleet operators with customized maintenance recommendations.

According to Baquero, fleet customers have seen a 30% reduction in tire costs and up to a 79% decrease in on-road flats and blowouts, significantly improving safety and reliability.

Customers who have already adopted RueData’s platform are seeing tangible benefits. Karla Arrambedee, Leaplab Acceleration program manager for Cemex Ventures, highlighted the impact RueData has had on the company’s supply chain.

“By centralizing tire data and optimizing maintenance, we’ve improved operational efficiency, enhanced traceability and reduced tire-related costs across Cemex’s supply chain,” Arrambedee said in the release.

The technology is also being incorporated by major global brands, including divisions of Pepsi, Coca-Cola, JBS and Heineken.

Beyond its technology, RueData is making strategic moves in the expansion. After attending FreightWaves’ Future of Freight Festival in November, Baquero decided to establish the company’s U.S. headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“Chattanooga has been amazing for us,” said Baquero. “It’s a small city, but it’s incredibly well connected to the transportation industry. The openness to collaboration and innovation in this region made it the ideal location for us to grow.”

With its fresh funding, the company plans to invest in its tech team to enhance its platform capabilities and expand its sales efforts to continue penetrating large fleet capacity and bring more fleets on board. The amount of funding secured in this round was not disclosed.

Baquero’s vision also extends beyond cost savings. He sees RueData playing a role in sustainability by extending tire life and reducing environmental waste.

“There are more than 1.5 billion tires discarded annually, and tire wear accounts for 30% of microplastic pollution in our oceans,” Baquero said. “By helping fleets optimize tire usage, we’re not just improving their bottom line – we’re also tackling a global environmental issue.”

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