Gatik Raises $200M Series D Financing The autonomous freight startup raised $200 million in Series D financing round co-led by Qatar Investment Authority andKoch Disruptive Technologies. Other investors includedMillennium Management, ARK Invest and Intact Private Capital. The Series D round raised is the largest to date for the Santa Clara startup which has brought in about $500 million in financing after its stealth, to build commercial autonomous middle-mile freight operations. Demand for autonomous freight is boosting in 2024 for Gatik. Autonomous Trucks Target Middle-Mile Logistics Gatik operates driverless trucks for major retailers, grocers and consumer goods companies.Its operations are active in Texas, Arizona, Arkansas and Canada, and it is targeted towards frequent routes linking distribution hubs to stores in order to help move goods around an area supply chain. The trucks can drive on highways or surface streets. Using dynamic routing, Gatik can react to new and changing delivery demands. According to Gatik, it has conducted over 85,000 full driverless deliveries to date and has a 99% on-time delivery performance. It has recently signed over $600 million in contracted revenue, which signals that demand for autonomous freight is on the rise for commercial use. Its trucks are manufactured by Isuzu Motors, and Gatik started off with a small focus on fixed, low (less than ten miles) delivery routes. Commercial Demand Drives Gatik Expansion Its network has since expanded to dynamic routes covering up to 400 miles. The vehicles can also operate across different weather and road conditions. Gatik has secured major customers including Walmart, Kroger and Tyson Foods. Canadian retailer Loblaw is also among its commercial customers. Its largest publicly announced partnership involves PepsiCo and its Frito-Lay operations. The agreement covers driverless freight movements across several US markets. Gatik’s technology uses the Gatik Driver autonomous system. The AI platform is