BENTONVILLE, Ark., Oct. 2, 2024 — J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. and UP.Labs have launched a first-of-its-kind venture through the Logistics Venture Lab (LVL) with a mission to unlock the future of transportation and mobility.
“From the inception of modern intermodal transit to digital freight matching platforms to emerging safety technology and beyond, J.B. Hunt has always been people focused, technology empowered and capacity driven, and we’ve been on an innovation journey since our founding in 1961,” said Shelley Simpson, president and CEO at J.B. Hunt. “Our collaboration with UP.Labs will continue this journey as we look for new ways to disrupt, adapt and accelerate across the transportation industry.”
Announced at the recent UP.Summit, the logistics and freight-focused lab will aim to launch as many as six startups over the next three years to solve core strategic challenges within the industry, according to a company press release. The startups, the first of which the companies target to begin launching in 2025, are inspired by opportunities to drive efficiency and solve common problems faced by providers in the logistics and freight transportation space. They will focus on key industry service areas such as brokerage, dedicated, intermodal and truckload, among others.
“I’m thrilled to be collaborating with J.B. Hunt, a leader in the transportation and logistics industry, said John Kuolt, founder and CEO of UP.Labs. “Through the Logistics Venture Lab, we will launch startups rooted in big data, GenAI, and emerging technologies to solve industry problems with some of the world’s best entrepreneurs. Having successfully collaborated with Porsche AG, Alaska Airlines and an undisclosed retail corporate partner, we’re excited to bring our unique venture lab model to a new transportation sector – logistics and freight.”
UP.Labs is a venture lab and a core part of the UP.Partners ecosystem, which includes mobility investment fund UP.Ventures and the annual UP.Summit, an event that brings together 300 of the world’s most innovative minds rethinking the future of transportation, according to the release.
“UP.Labs believes that partnering with leading corporations in the mobility space is the fastest way to make an impact on the challenges our society faces,” the company said. “Since its founding in 2022, UP.Labs has worked with corporate partners to identify their most pressing challenges and launch startups built by proven entrepreneurs, product leaders, and technologists to develop transformative solutions. Once these companies have matured, the corporate partners will have the option to acquire them. J.B. Hunt represents UP.Labs’ fourth corporate partnership with the mission of bringing innovation to the forefront of the transportation industry.”
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
