Supply Chain · Profile from Supply Chain Research Companion
project44
project44, the Chicago-based, venture- and growth-equity-backed software company founded by Jett McCandless in 2014 that built one of the two best-known US real-time transportation visibility platforms (the other is its Chicago neighbour and rival FourKites). It began by wiring less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers' rating, booking and tracking systems to shippers and logistics providers through application programming interfaces (APIs), expanded in 2021 into ocean, last-mile and predictive analytics by acquisition, and raised ~$202m at a ~$1.2bn valuation (Series E, Jun 2021) and $420m (Series F, Jan 2022; Bloomberg reported ~$2.4bn, other outlets ~$2.2bn pre-money) at the top of the freight-tech boom (reported). Its story turns on the blueprint's question — can visibility software be a business on its own? — and on the flow-equation factor of reliability: project44 sells shippers the information that tells them whether a supply chain is reliable, but it does not own the trucks, ships or devices that generate that information. Its failures include two rounds of layoffs as the freight recession and the funding market turned (~5% in 2022, ~10% in 2023, reported), a four-year defamation suit against FourKites that ended in a settlement (Dec 2024, reported) rather than a verdict, and the absence, at Nov 2026, of any audited figure showing that visibility alone earns a profit.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2014, Chicago, Illinois, by Jett McCandless (founder and CEO; a logistics-software veteran who had earlier built a transportation-software business, verify)
- Headquarters
- Chicago (West Loop / downtown offices, verify); European offices including Amsterdam (it holds its decision44 user events in Chicago and Amsterdam, company) and engineering teams in Eastern Europe and India (verify)
- Ownership / structure
- Private; venture- and growth-equity-backed. Series E (~$202m, Jun 2021) and Series F ($420m, Jan 2022, led by Thoma Bravo, TPG and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, reported). Earlier investors reported to include 8VC, Emergence Capital and Sapphire Ventures (verify)
- Leadership (2026)
- Jett McCandless (founder, CEO); other executives not web-checked at C06 (verify current team)
- Segments
- One platform sold by subscription: multimodal visibility (truckload, LTL, parcel, ocean, air, rail, intermodal), ETA prediction, carrier connectivity, yard and dock tools, analytics and, from 2024–26, AI "agents" for exception handling and freight procurement (company claims)
- Scale
- ~1,300 employees before the 2023 cut (inferred from ~130 = ~10%, reported, verify); customers include large shippers and logistics service providers (company claims of 1,000+ brands, verify); connected carriers number in the hundreds of thousands (company claim, verify)
- Financials
- Private; no audited revenue, ARR or profit published at Nov 2026 (verify). Funding: ~$202m Series E (Jun 2021, ~$1.2bn post-money, FreightWaves); $420m Series F (Jan 2022; Bloomberg: ~$240m of new equity, valuation ~$2.4bn); total raised ~$800m+ including earlier rounds (reported, verify). Section 17's "~$2.7bn" Series F valuation is not supported by the sources checked at C06
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Founding and LTL API connectivity (2014); FourKites defamation suit (2020) and settlement (Dec 2024); Ocean Insights, ClearMetal and Convey acquisitions (2021); Series E unicorn round (2021); $420m Series F (2022); layoffs (2022–23); AI decision-intelligence and agents pivot (2024–26)
7 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2014
Founding and LTL API Connectivity
Founding; technology bet
2020
FourKites Defamation Suit and 2024 Settlement
Regulatory, customs or legal action — litigation against a competitor (ended in settlement, not a verdict)
2021
Ocean ClearMetal and Convey Acquisitions
Acquisition (three deals in one year)
2021
Series E Unicorn Round
Financing (growth round)
2022
Layoffs and Engineering First Reset
Restructuring — two rounds of job cuts (failure of the 2021 growth plan)
2022
Series F 420m Round
Financing (late-stage growth round) — at the top of the cycle
2024
Decision Intelligence and AI Agents
Strategy pivot; technology bet