Indianapolis-based Paxafe secures $9M investment
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Indianapolis-based Paxafe Inc., which helps customers identify and avoid potential supply-chain disruptions, has secured $9 million in Series A funding to fuel the company’s growth.
The investment brings Paxafe’s total raised to date to $14 million since its founding in 2018.
The company began operations in Milwaukee, then moved its headquarters to Indianapolis in 2021. It has 33 employees, with about half based in the U.S. and half based in India. Among the company’s U.S.-based employees, two are based in Indiana and the others work remotely.
Paxafe co-founder and CEO Ilya Preston said the company plans to hire 10 additional people within the next three to six months, and he expects most of those hires to be U.S.-based.
“We always try to look local first,” Preston said. “We are making a concerted effort to add here in the U.S.”
Paxafe’s artificial intelligence-powered-platform focuses on what’s known as cold chain logistics—the shipping of temperature-sensitive products like drugs, vaccines, and fresh produce. The company’s technology analyzes large volumes of data to help customers predict potential disruptions. The technology also recommends actions customers can take to avoid those disruptions.
In short, Paxafe helps customers glean insights that would be difficult or impossible to discern without the use of technology.
“If you have hundreds or thousands of shipments across hundreds or thousands of [routes], it’s very, very complex,” Preston said.
Toronto-based Framework Venture Partners was the lead investor in Paxafe’s recent venture funding. The round’s new investors included San Francisco-based M12 (Microsoft Corp.’s venture fund), New York City-based Rosecliff Ventures, Indianapolis-based Elevate Ventures, San Francisco-based AngelList Quant Fund, Burlington, Vermont-based Gaingels, and San Francisco-based Mana Ventures. Two existing investors, Palo Alto, California-based Ubiquity Ventures and Atlanta, Georgia-based Venture53, also participated in the round.