The artificial intelligence investment market is expanding beyond productivity software and digital assistants, with venture capital firms backing autonomous logistics technologies to address real-world labor and supply chain challenges. This market trend is notably prominent in San Francisco, with firms such as Trucks Venture Capital focusing on startups shaping the future of transportation, logistics, and mobility infrastructure.

Faced with persistent driver shortages, an aging trucking workforce, and growing freight demand, investors like Trucks VC believe that autonomous trucking and AI-powered logistics platforms could become a core part of the ecosystem for maintaining the flow of goods through the global economy.

Founded in 2015 by Reilly Brennan, Jeffrey Schox, and Kathryn Schox, Trucks VC’s investment strategy is centered on creating a mobility ecosystem that is safer, cleaner, and more accessible.

“Since our launch roughly a decade ago, our investment thesis has been simple: we fund the entrepreneurs building the future of transportation. The $5T transportation industry is incredibly multi-disciplinary, and we continue to be amazed at the big ideas that shape the future of this industry,” the firm wrote in a blog post.

One of Trucks VC’s notable investments is Mountain View, Calif.-based Gatik, an autonomous trucking company that reflects the firm’s belief that practical, commercially viable autonomy will soon emerge as a structured logistics solution that will overtake long-haul trucking or consumer robotaxi networks.

The firm identified Gatik’s focus on middle-mile freight routes that offer repetitive trips between distribution centers, warehouses, and retail locations as a more structured path to commercialization.

The firm participated in Gatik’s early financing rounds and later increased its position through its dedicated Trucks Growth Fund, which gained commercial traction. Gatik has secured over $600 million in contracted revenue and has deployed fully driverless, observer-free medium-duty trucks on public roads.

Last week, Gatik announced a multi-year-partnership with PepsiCo to expand the deployment of autonomous trucks across the company’s North American supply chain. Gatik already operates a fleet of more than 40 autonomous trucks for PepsiCo across Texas, Arizona, and Arkansas, supporting the movement of goods between manufacturing facilities, distribution centers, and retail locations.

Trucks VC has backed other companies across multiple freight and transit channels, including May Mobility, a developer of autonomous fleet vehicles; NuTonomy, a startup focused on self-driving vehicle software; and Skyryse, which is developing automated flight-control systems designed to simplify flight safety.

In 2025, the firm closed its largest fund, Fund III, which raised $70 million to support approximately 30 seed investments in transportation technology startups.

A Crunchbase sector report states that autonomous vehicle startups have raised a record $21.4 billion across 34 deals through April 2026, surpassing the $5.9 billion raised across 99 deals in 2025 and the $12.1 billion invested across 127 deals in 2024.