Tankers, driverless trucks, rail freight, air cargo, warehousing and last-mile delivery all drew capital between July and September 2026. Only one of the six is Indian.
Six companies that carry or handle freight themselves announced investment with a disclosed value in the third quarter of 2026. Trafigura’s new tanker company, Volare Shipping, led with a private placement of about $500M. Gatik, a US autonomous trucking company, followed with a $200M Series D, and Swedish rail freight operator Hector Rail agreed a deal in which HICL Infrastructure will pay about £68M for a 42% stake.
Together the six deals come to roughly $800M or more, depending on the pound exchange rate. Volare alone accounts for more than half. The smallest is India’s OORJAA, at about $1M, which is the only Indian company on the list.
The list covers announcements from 1 July to 30 September 2026. It includes only operators that move or handle freight themselves. Logistics software, procurement and planning tools, fulfilment-only businesses, packaging and mobility companies are left out, as are deals with undisclosed amounts. Rupee and riyal figures are approximate conversions. Two of the six deals, Volare and Hector Rail, are not venture rounds, so the table shows the deal type for each.
Q3 2026 at a glance
• Six operators across six modes: tankers, trucking, rail, air cargo, warehousing and last-mile delivery.
• Volare and Gatik together account for about $700M of the total.
• Four of the six are funding rounds: Gatik, ClearJet, Sirdab and OORJAA. Volare is a share placement tied to a stock market listing, and Hector Rail is a change of ownership.
• The largest deal is about 500 times the smallest.
The ranked list
| # | Startup | Amount | Round | Date | Lead and other investors |
| 1 | Volare Shipping (Singapore, tankers) | About $500M | Private placement and Oslo listing | Announced 21 Sep, closed 8 Oct | Institutional investors, family offices and shipping industry participants; Trafigura keeps a majority stake |
| 2 | Gatik (US, trucking) | $200M | Series D | 25 Aug | Qatar Investment Authority and Koch Disruptive Technologies (leads); Millennium Management, ARK Invest, Intact Private Capital |
| 3 | Hector Rail (Sweden, rail freight) | About £68M for a 42% stake | Stake bought from Ancala | 28 Sep | HICL Infrastructure, with other InfraRed-managed funds taking the rest |
| 4 | ClearJet (US, air cargo) | $25M | Series B | 12 Aug | Edison Partners (lead); Venture53, Origin Ventures, SaltVC, SpringTime Ventures |
| 5 | Sirdab (Saudi Arabia, 3PL) | SAR 37.5M (about $10M) | Series A | 4 Sep | Elm Company and BECO Capital (co-leads); Y Combinator, COTU Ventures, D Global Ventures |
| 6 | OORJAA (India, last-mile) | Rs 9.7 crore (about $1M) | Series A (first close) | 27 Aug | Equentis Angel Fund (lead); Inflection Point Ventures |
Amounts are as reported at announcement. The Hector Rail value is in pounds and ranks third because £68M is above $25M at any recent exchange rate. Dates are announcement or first report dates.
Volare Shipping: a $500M tanker fleet
Trafigura launched Volare Shipping on 21 September with a plan to raise about $500M through a private placement and list on Euronext Growth Oslo. The placement closed on 8 October, after the quarter ended, and was reported as significantly oversubscribed. The company sold 30.7 million new shares at NOK 154 each, and trading began under the ticker VLCC. Trafigura keeps a majority stake.
Volare owns six very large crude carriers in operation and has eight newbuilds on order for delivery through 2028, which will take it to 14. The money is meant to fully fund the newbuilding programme. Trafigura’s shipping business handles the commercial management.
Gatik: driverless trucks for middle-mile freight
Gatik’s $200M Series D was led by Qatar Investment Authority and Koch Disruptive Technologies, with Millennium Management, ARK Invest and Intact Private Capital also in. The company runs driverless trucks between distribution centres and stores in Texas, Arizona, Arkansas and Canada for customers including PepsiCo in the US and Loblaw in Canada. It reports more than $600M in contracted revenue and 85,000 fully driverless orders completed, and plans more than 100 driverless trucks by the end of 2026. Gatik did not disclose its valuation.
Hector Rail: a rail freight operator changes hands
On 28 September, HICL Infrastructure agreed to buy 42% of Hector Rail for about £68M, alongside other InfraRed-managed funds that will own the rest. The seller is infrastructure manager Ancala, so this is a purchase of existing ownership, not new money into the company. Completion is expected by 31 December, subject to third-party consents. Hector Rail, founded in 2004 and based in Stockholm, runs block train services for industrial customers in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany. It has about 100 locomotives, roughly 75 per cent of them electric, and about 400 staff, including around 300 train drivers.
ClearJet: parcels on passenger flights
ClearJet’s $25M Series B, led by Edison Partners, takes its total funding to $40M since its 2022 founding. The Austin-based company connects shippers with unused cargo space on commercial passenger flights to move e-commerce packages within the US. It handles pickup, sorting, screening, flights and handoff to final-mile carriers without owning planes or trucks, and says this can cut shipping costs by up to 35 per cent and speed delivery by one to three days.
Sirdab: Saudi third-party logistics
Sirdab raised SAR 37.5M, about $10M, in a Series A co-led by Elm Company and BECO Capital, with Y Combinator among the investors. Founded in 2022, it lets businesses contract transport and warehousing providers and manage inventory and orders from one place. Transport runs through partner providers, but Sirdab directly operates some warehouse facilities, so it is an asset-light operator rather than a pure software company. It plans to expand across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. It is the most borderline entry on this list.
OORJAA: mid-mile and last-mile in India
OORJAA raised Rs 9.7 crore in the first close of a larger Series A, led by Equentis Angel Fund with Inflection Point Ventures. The Mumbai-based company, founded in 2019, runs mid-mile and last-mile networks across more than 200 Indian cities and says it handles about 50,000 last-mile orders a day for clients including Zepto, Blinkit, Amazon and Swiggy. It is reportedly in advanced talks with several venture funds for the rest of the round.
What the pattern shows
• Capital followed rates and fleets. The biggest cheque went to tankers at a time of high charter rates, and the second biggest to autonomous trucks.
• Large pools of capital, such as sovereign funds and infrastructure funds, backed the larger operators. Smaller operators raised from venture and angel investors.
• India is thin on this list. OORJAA’s first close is the only verified Indian operator round in the quarter.
Data notes
Volare’s placement was announced on 21 September but closed on 8 October, after the quarter. It is included because the announcement fell in Q3. Remove it and the total falls by about $500M.
Hector Rail is a sale of existing ownership, not a fundraise. It is included as investment into a freight operator.
Excluded for undisclosed amounts: Navajo Expedited (private equity buyout, 20 September), UniUni (term sheet, 25 September, not closed), DP World Logistics Nigeria (43% stake sale, 24 September) and Torque (acquisition by H.I.G. Capital, a fulfilment business).
Excluded as not freight operators: Cytronic, Yantra Packs, Overroute, Freight Hero, Atomic, Freehand, Yulu, Drivn, PlusAI and Elroy Air.
Not exhaustive: this list is built from news reports and weekly deal recaps, and smaller rounds, especially in India, may be missing.
Sources
Volare Shipping launch (gCaptain): https://gcaptain.com/trafigura-launches-volare-shipping-with-500-million-oslo-listing-plan/
Volare Shipping listing (Cyprus Shipping News): https://cyprusshippingnews.com/2026/10/08/volare-shipping-completes-listing-on-euronext-growth-oslo/
Gatik, Series D (AJOT): https://www.ajot.com/news/gatik-secures-200-million-in-funding-as-autonomous-freight-market-accelerates
HICL and Hector Rail (Directors Talk): https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/hicl-invests-68m-in-scandinavian-rail-freight/4121264183
ClearJet, Series B (Crunchbase News): https://news.crunchbase.com/transportation/clearjet-raises-25m-logistics-ai-seriesb/
Sirdab, Series A (Entarabi): https://entarabi.com/en/2026/09/saudi-logistics-tech-startup-sirdab-raises-sar-37-5-million-in-series-a-round-as-digital-logistics-enters-a-new-phase-of-expansion/
OORJAA, Series A (Entrackr): https://entrackr.com/snippets/logistics-startup-oorjaa-raises-series-a-funding-led-by-equentis-angel-fund-12444247
Navajo Expedited (Pulse 2.0): https://pulse2.com/centre-partners-and-altivare-capital-acquire-ai-enabled-freight-logistics-platform-navajo-expedited/
UniUni term sheet (Startup Researcher): https://www.startupresearcher.com/news/uniuni-announces-new-private-funding-round-led-by-existing-investor
DP World Logistics Nigeria (Nairametrics): https://nairametrics.com/2026/09/25/uac-nigeria-to-sell-43-stake-in-dp-world-logistics-to-tgi-group/
Torque (Pulse 2.0): https://pulse2.com/h-i-g-capital-acquires-torque/
Tankers, driverless trucks, rail freight, air cargo, warehousing and last-mile delivery all drew capital between July and September 2026. Only one of the six is Indian.
Six companies that carry or handle freight themselves announced investment with a disclosed value in the third quarter of 2026. Trafigura’s new tanker company, Volare Shipping, led with a private placement of about $500M. Gatik, a US autonomous trucking company, followed with a $200M Series D, and Swedish rail freight operator Hector Rail agreed a deal in which HICL Infrastructure will pay about £68M for a 42% stake.
Together the six deals come to roughly $800M or more, depending on the pound exchange rate. Volare alone accounts for more than half. The smallest is India’s OORJAA, at about $1M, which is the only Indian company on the list.
The list covers announcements from 1 July to 30 September 2026. It includes only operators that move or handle freight themselves. Logistics software, procurement and planning tools, fulfilment-only businesses, packaging and mobility companies are left out, as are deals with undisclosed amounts. Rupee and riyal figures are approximate conversions. Two of the six deals, Volare and Hector Rail, are not venture rounds, so the table shows the deal type for each.
Q3 2026 at a glance
• Six operators across six modes: tankers, trucking, rail, air cargo, warehousing and last-mile delivery.
• Volare and Gatik together account for about $700M of the total.
• Four of the six are funding rounds: Gatik, ClearJet, Sirdab and OORJAA. Volare is a share placement tied to a stock market listing, and Hector Rail is a change of ownership.
• The largest deal is about 500 times the smallest.
The ranked list
| # | Startup | Amount | Round | Date | Lead and other investors |
| 1 | Volare Shipping (Singapore, tankers) | About $500M | Private placement and Oslo listing | Announced 21 Sep, closed 8 Oct | Institutional investors, family offices and shipping industry participants; Trafigura keeps a majority stake |
| 2 | Gatik (US, trucking) | $200M | Series D | 25 Aug | Qatar Investment Authority and Koch Disruptive Technologies (leads); Millennium Management, ARK Invest, Intact Private Capital |
| 3 | Hector Rail (Sweden, rail freight) | About £68M for a 42% stake | Stake bought from Ancala | 28 Sep | HICL Infrastructure, with other InfraRed-managed funds taking the rest |
| 4 | ClearJet (US, air cargo) | $25M | Series B | 12 Aug | Edison Partners (lead); Venture53, Origin Ventures, SaltVC, SpringTime Ventures |
| 5 | Sirdab (Saudi Arabia, 3PL) | SAR 37.5M (about $10M) | Series A | 4 Sep | Elm Company and BECO Capital (co-leads); Y Combinator, COTU Ventures, D Global Ventures |
| 6 | OORJAA (India, last-mile) | Rs 9.7 crore (about $1M) | Series A (first close) | 27 Aug | Equentis Angel Fund (lead); Inflection Point Ventures |
Amounts are as reported at announcement. The Hector Rail value is in pounds and ranks third because £68M is above $25M at any recent exchange rate. Dates are announcement or first report dates.
Volare Shipping: a $500M tanker fleet
Trafigura launched Volare Shipping on 21 September with a plan to raise about $500M through a private placement and list on Euronext Growth Oslo. The placement closed on 8 October, after the quarter ended, and was reported as significantly oversubscribed. The company sold 30.7 million new shares at NOK 154 each, and trading began under the ticker VLCC. Trafigura keeps a majority stake.
Volare owns six very large crude carriers in operation and has eight newbuilds on order for delivery through 2028, which will take it to 14. The money is meant to fully fund the newbuilding programme. Trafigura’s shipping business handles the commercial management.
Gatik: driverless trucks for middle-mile freight
Gatik’s $200M Series D was led by Qatar Investment Authority and Koch Disruptive Technologies, with Millennium Management, ARK Invest and Intact Private Capital also in. The company runs driverless trucks between distribution centres and stores in Texas, Arizona, Arkansas and Canada for customers including PepsiCo in the US and Loblaw in Canada. It reports more than $600M in contracted revenue and 85,000 fully driverless orders completed, and plans more than 100 driverless trucks by the end of 2026. Gatik did not disclose its valuation.
Hector Rail: a rail freight operator changes hands
On 28 September, HICL Infrastructure agreed to buy 42% of Hector Rail for about £68M, alongside other InfraRed-managed funds that will own the rest. The seller is infrastructure manager Ancala, so this is a purchase of existing ownership, not new money into the company. Completion is expected by 31 December, subject to third-party consents. Hector Rail, founded in 2004 and based in Stockholm, runs block train services for industrial customers in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany. It has about 100 locomotives, roughly 75 per cent of them electric, and about 400 staff, including around 300 train drivers.
ClearJet: parcels on passenger flights
ClearJet’s $25M Series B, led by Edison Partners, takes its total funding to $40M since its 2022 founding. The Austin-based company connects shippers with unused cargo space on commercial passenger flights to move e-commerce packages within the US. It handles pickup, sorting, screening, flights and handoff to final-mile carriers without owning planes or trucks, and says this can cut shipping costs by up to 35 per cent and speed delivery by one to three days.
Sirdab: Saudi third-party logistics
Sirdab raised SAR 37.5M, about $10M, in a Series A co-led by Elm Company and BECO Capital, with Y Combinator among the investors. Founded in 2022, it lets businesses contract transport and warehousing providers and manage inventory and orders from one place. Transport runs through partner providers, but Sirdab directly operates some warehouse facilities, so it is an asset-light operator rather than a pure software company. It plans to expand across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. It is the most borderline entry on this list.
OORJAA: mid-mile and last-mile in India
OORJAA raised Rs 9.7 crore in the first close of a larger Series A, led by Equentis Angel Fund with Inflection Point Ventures. The Mumbai-based company, founded in 2019, runs mid-mile and last-mile networks across more than 200 Indian cities and says it handles about 50,000 last-mile orders a day for clients including Zepto, Blinkit, Amazon and Swiggy. It is reportedly in advanced talks with several venture funds for the rest of the round.
What the pattern shows
• Capital followed rates and fleets. The biggest cheque went to tankers at a time of high charter rates, and the second biggest to autonomous trucks.
• Large pools of capital, such as sovereign funds and infrastructure funds, backed the larger operators. Smaller operators raised from venture and angel investors.
• India is thin on this list. OORJAA’s first close is the only verified Indian operator round in the quarter.
Data notes
Volare’s placement was announced on 21 September but closed on 8 October, after the quarter. It is included because the announcement fell in Q3. Remove it and the total falls by about $500M.
Hector Rail is a sale of existing ownership, not a fundraise. It is included as investment into a freight operator.
Excluded for undisclosed amounts: Navajo Expedited (private equity buyout, 20 September), UniUni (term sheet, 25 September, not closed), DP World Logistics Nigeria (43% stake sale, 24 September) and Torque (acquisition by H.I.G. Capital, a fulfilment business).
Excluded as not freight operators: Cytronic, Yantra Packs, Overroute, Freight Hero, Atomic, Freehand, Yulu, Drivn, PlusAI and Elroy Air.
Not exhaustive: this list is built from news reports and weekly deal recaps, and smaller rounds, especially in India, may be missing.
Sources
Volare Shipping launch (gCaptain): https://gcaptain.com/trafigura-launches-volare-shipping-with-500-million-oslo-listing-plan/
Volare Shipping listing (Cyprus Shipping News): https://cyprusshippingnews.com/2026/10/08/volare-shipping-completes-listing-on-euronext-growth-oslo/
Gatik, Series D (AJOT): https://www.ajot.com/news/gatik-secures-200-million-in-funding-as-autonomous-freight-market-accelerates
HICL and Hector Rail (Directors Talk): https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/hicl-invests-68m-in-scandinavian-rail-freight/4121264183
ClearJet, Series B (Crunchbase News): https://news.crunchbase.com/transportation/clearjet-raises-25m-logistics-ai-seriesb/
Sirdab, Series A (Entarabi): https://entarabi.com/en/2026/09/saudi-logistics-tech-startup-sirdab-raises-sar-37-5-million-in-series-a-round-as-digital-logistics-enters-a-new-phase-of-expansion/
OORJAA, Series A (Entrackr): https://entrackr.com/snippets/logistics-startup-oorjaa-raises-series-a-funding-led-by-equentis-angel-fund-12444247
Navajo Expedited (Pulse 2.0): https://pulse2.com/centre-partners-and-altivare-capital-acquire-ai-enabled-freight-logistics-platform-navajo-expedited/
UniUni term sheet (Startup Researcher): https://www.startupresearcher.com/news/uniuni-announces-new-private-funding-round-led-by-existing-investor
DP World Logistics Nigeria (Nairametrics): https://nairametrics.com/2026/09/25/uac-nigeria-to-sell-43-stake-in-dp-world-logistics-to-tgi-group/
Torque (Pulse 2.0): https://pulse2.com/h-i-g-capital-acquires-torque/
