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J.B. Hunt and UP.Labs Partner to Establish Logistics Venture Lab

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J.B. Hunt of Lowell and UP.Labs of Santa Monica, California, on Wednesday announced the establishment of the Logistics Venture Lab, a logistics and freight-focused project that aims to launch up to six startups over the next three years in hopes of solving strategic challenges within the industry.

The startups, the first of which is targeted to begin operations in 2025, will work to drive efficiency and solve common problems faced by providers in the logistics and freight transportation space, the companies said in a news release. The startups will also focus on key industry service areas such as brokerage, dedicated, intermodal and truckload, among others.

“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,” John Kuolt, founder and CEO of UP.Labs, said in the release. “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.”

Founded in 2022, UP.Labs is a venture lab and a part of the UP.Partners ecosystem, which also includes a mobility investment fund and an annual summit. J.B. Hunt is UP.Labs’ fourth corporate partnership with the mission of bringing innovation to the transportation industry.

“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,” Shelley Simpson, president and CEO at J.B. Hunt, said in the release. “Our collaboration with UP.Labs will continue this journey as we look for new ways to disrupt, adapt and accelerate across the transportation industry.”

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