Brighton’s Outrider raising millions to revolutionize distribution-yard ops

BRIGHTON — Brighton-based Outrider Technologies Inc., a developer of autonomous yard operations systems for logistics hubs, has raised about a quarter of a billion dollars from investors over the last few years — including a recently closed $62 million Series D fundraising round — in an effort to make the distribution of goods more efficient, safer and more sustainable. 

“Yard operations is a critical link in the global supply chain,” Outrider CEO Andrew Smith told BizWest, but they “can be these unsafe, congested areas” full of trailers weighing dozens of tons sitting atop idling trucks pumping diesel fumes into the air. “… Outrider can send an autonomous electric truck to robotically find and connect to a 53-foot-long, 60,000-lb. trailer and manuever that through a yard and place it centimeter accuracy to a loading dock.”

The company has “essentially created an entire industry” to revolutionize the process by which trucks and their cargo move in, out and through distribution hubs, Smith said, and “our market is massive.”

Big-name investors also seem to recognize Outriders’ profit potential. Last month’s Series D round included investment from Koch Disruptive Technologies, industrial behemoth Koch Industries Inc.’s investment arm; venture-capital giant New Enterprise Associates; and NVentures, the venture fund operated by artificial-intelligence microchip leader Nvidia Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA), which has grown so large and influential that it recently replaced Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. All told, Outrider has raised more than $250 million from investors. 

“Outrider’s industry-leading technology approach, commitment to safety, and robust IP portfolio make them a standout in autonomous yard operations,” KDT president Byron Knight said in a prepared statement. “We’re thrilled to support their continued growth as they revolutionize supply chain efficiency on a global scale.”

Based in Brighton’s 76 Commerce Center, Outrider employs about 150 workers. “We chose to be in Colorado because of the exceptional pool of talent,” Smith said.

The facility in Brighton “is not only a headquarters but an advanced testing center,” he said. “We have an entire distribution center with autonomous electric trucks operating 20 hours a day, seven days a week testing all of the systems that will start to be rolled out with customers next year.”

The company’s “autonomy kits are layered on top of an electric vehicle base truck,” Smith said. The kits are “a combination of sensors and computers as well as a robotic-arm system that gets mounted on top of an Outrider-approved, third-party electric truck platform.”

Outrider has “a limited set of vehicles already operating today at multiple customer sites across the country, including in Colorado,” Smith said. The company is eying 2025 as an inflection point for scaling up the business.

“Our big value propositions,” he said, “are dramatic enhancements of efficiency, safety and sustainability in the supply chain.”

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