The service of moving items in the United States is dominated by trucks, which manage about two-thirds of the 20.2 billion tons of freight thats transported yearly.
Parallel Systems creator and CEO, Matt Soule, wishes to alter that by putting a contemporary self-governing and electrical twist on the centuries-old railroad system.The Los Angeles-based company is constructing battery-powered self-governing freight innovation that deals with existing freight automobiles and incorporates with existing train control software.
Soules pitch: Parallels system makes it cheaper for business to utilize rail not trucks for short-distance deliveries.Rail has actually been traditionally underutilized because trains are generally powered by large and costly engines that pull numerous freight vehicles at a time over fars away, Soule discussed to A Technology NewsRoom.
Companies often turn to trucks for moving freight much shorter distances.Parallel Systems developed a system that permits train cars and trucks to connect and detach autonomously.
This implies business can utilize Parallels tech for a range of different delivery sizes and people dont have to manually link and disconnect the automobiles a hazardous procedure.
Parallels tech also enables freight cars to brake significantly quicker than existing trains, Soule added.Were utilizing a different physical architecture to achieve truck competitive economics at little scale instead of big scale, Soule said.
The lorry itself works with existing rail infrastructure.
It is created and being demonstrated to operate alongside traditional rail operations.
Were not proposing to replace existing freight trains with this.Parallels tech fits on existing freight cars.Image Credits: Parallel SystemsParallel recently was authorized by the Federal Railroad Administration to begin piloting the tech in Georgia.
This program will allow the company to test its tech-enabled trains along a 160-mile stretch between the Port of Savannah in Savannah, Georgia, and multiple circulation sites in the state.Parallel also recently raised a $38 million Series B round led by Anthos Capital with participation from Collaborative Fund, Congruent Ventures, and Riot Ventures, among others.
This brings Parallels overall financing to more than $100 million.
The fresh capital will be put toward commercialization with the company wanting to host its preliminary business launch in 2026.
Sophie Bakalar, a partner at Collaborative Fund, informed A Technology NewsRoom that while Parallel doesnt neatly fit into its consumer-leaning generalist thesis, the company was intrigued by the company after getting presented through an existing founder in their portfolio.While Collaborative Fund doesnt normally purchase this area, shipping and the movement of goods does have a huge effect on the customer business Collab is normally backing, stated Bakalar, including that its tough to pass up an excellent chance even if it is off-thesis.
I believe this group is actually uniquely positioned to fix this issue, Bakalar stated.
Simply not many folks are going to be able to do it.
I think it is a team that has a founder-product fit.
It is an enormous market and a massive challenge.Soule does not have a background in rail, specifically.
He does have a history of working in regulated transportation.
He spent 20 years in aerospace, 13 of which were at SpaceX.We were constantly establishing new technologies, Soule stated.
I worked in avionics, which is electronics and software application that controls the rocket and got exceptionally curious about how all these technologies could benefit other kinds of markets that have actually maybe not viewed as much innovation.He launched the business in 2020 and now, five years later, Parallel has actually built out the technology and is concentrated on commercialization.While getting business to change their shipping and distribution strategies might be a big feat, demand for different services is there, Soule stated.
He added that they have had interest from around the world however strategy to focus on the U.S.
and Australia for now.This news also comes as the U.S.
hangs in tariff limbo.
If tariffs do wind up going through, Bakalar predicts it could stimulate more demand for companies like Parallel as business will likely be aiming to cut costs in any way.This resembles a generational development in terms of freight and you dont see a lot of change in the freight industry, Soule said.
This is striking on points that matter.