Bentonville, AR (October 3, 2024): Transportation and logistics giant J.B. Hunt announced a new partnership with UP.Labs to launch the Logistics Venture Lab (LVL) at the UP.Summit event on Wednesday. This incubator will focus on building innovative software and digital products to propel J.B. Hunt and the logistics industry forward.
The LVL aims to launch up to six startups over the next three years, tackling critical challenges faced by the logistics and freight sector. These startups will be commercially focused and designed to operate independently, going beyond traditional proof-of-concept models.
UP.Labs: A Collaborative Approach to Innovation
UP.Labs isn’t your typical startup incubator. While it shares some similarities with venture capital firms like UP.Partners, its approach centers on collaboration. Partnering with major corporations like J.B. Hunt, UP.Labs creates startups focused on solving specific problems within the company and the broader industry.
“The opportunity to develop logistics startups focused on software and data is vast,” said UP.Labs founder and CEO John Kuolt. This venture lab model fosters innovation by ensuring corporations don’t have undue control. UP.Labs limits corporate partner investment to their pro rata share in funding rounds, allowing startups to attract diverse talent and investors. After three years, J.B. Hunt will have the option to acquire remaining shares based on a fair market valuation determined by a third-party firm.
Building on Success
This initiative marks UP.Labs’ third venture lab collaboration with a major corporation since its 2022 launch. The company’s first partnership with Porsche yielded successful startups like Pull Systems, which develops performance management software for the electric vehicle industry, and Sensigo, which builds diagnostics software for modern vehicles.
The LVL promises exciting developments in the logistics and freight space. By leveraging UP.Labs’ collaborative approach, J.B. Hunt is poised to develop cutting-edge software and digital solutions, propelling both the company and the entire industry forward.
