US-based former Australian transport management scaleup BetterFleet has raised US$15 million (A$23.7m) in a Series A.
The round was led by US funds Aligned Climate Capital, Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF), and Remarkable Ventures Climate (RVC).
BetterFleet was cofounded in Sydney by CEO Daniel and Nick Butlin as EVenergi in 2016. The software startup kicked off managing electric bus fleets, initally in the ACT and the the UK before Hilson headed to the US in 2021 and the business recently rebranded to BetterFleet.
It now has more than 200 customers across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America, including 80 in Australia.
BetterFleet’s AI-driven optimisation technology assists with sustainable fleet planning and operational management, with a focus on mission-critical organisations in transit, government, utilities, and logistics. The software platform creates a digital twin of a fleet operator’s vehicles, energy infrastructure, and routes, to optimise the selection of hard assets–charging stations, vehicles, interconnection equipment.
The scaleup’s software development team remains based in Australia.
It’s been backed by banker Mark Burrows, Barrenjoey Capital founder Anthony Brasher, and ad exec Luke Dean, with grant funding from ARENA and the NSW, ACT and South Australian governments.
Hilson said working with fleets of up to 20,000 vehicles across thousands of depots, BetterFleet has helped customers save tens of millions of dollars.
“As large, complex fleets transition to new technologies, inexperience, fear, and risk aversion often lead to overbuilding. At the same time, electric fleets require far more sophisticated management software to handle the increased complexity of operating these assets,” he said
“Our goal is to enable more sustainable and productive fleets, allowing the transition to zero emissions solutions, saving our customers billions, while reducing emissions by millions of tonnes annually.”
Hilson said there’s far great adoption and maturity in the local EV market since he headed offshore four years ago, and the shift to electric by fleet managers is hitting critical mass.
“When I left Australia to expand overseas the market was really just getting stated. The number of available EV models was still relatively constrained, the upfront costs of buying EVs were quite high, and our tech platform was still in its early stages,” he said.
“Now all those factors have changed. I think we are about to see an explosion in EV uptake among Australia’s fleet managers because the advantages of running an electrified fleet using cutting edge tech are now undeniable.
“Run efficiently, an EV fleet requires far less maintenance and if you manage your charging schedule through clever tech you can keep your fleet running for a tiny fraction of the cost of a traditional fleet.”
Aligned Climate Capital CEO Peter Davidson said BetterFleet is the best tool they’ve seen for fleets that are going electric.
“They are already working with some of the largest transit agencies around the world, and we’re excited for this new financing to accelerate their growth even further,” he said.
EIF partner Geoff Eisenberg is similarly impressed.
“After making a dozen investments in electric transportation over the past 10 years, we were drawn to BetterFleet’s disciplined focus on enabling the successful electrification and operation of complex mission-critical fleets,” he said.
“BetterFleet is the clear leader in this space, unmatched in both technology and execution capability while serving some of the most important fleets in the world.”
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