J.B. Hunt and UP.Labs Unite to Establish Logistics Venture Lab to Fuel the Next Wave of Innovation in Logistics and Freight

The Logistics Venture Lab aims to launch AI-Enabled startups to solve core industry challenges.

BENTONVILLE, Ark.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– At the UP.Summit, J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., one of the largest supply chain solutions providers in North America, and UP.Labs, a first-of-its-kind venture lab unlocking the future of transportation and mobility, announced their establishment of the Logistics Venture Lab (LVL).

The logistics and freight-focused lab will aim to launch as many as six startups over the next three years to solve core strategic challenges within the industry. The startups, the first of which the companies target to begin launching in 2025, are inspired by opportunities to drive efficiency and solve common problems faced by providers in the logistics and freight transportation space. They will focus on key industry service areas such as brokerage, dedicated, intermodal and truckload, among others.

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

“I’m thrilled to be collaborating with J.B. Hunt, a leader in the transportation and logistics industry. 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,” said John Kuolt, Founder & CEO of UP.Labs. “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.”

UP.Labs is a venture lab and a core part of the UP.Partners ecosystem, which includes mobility investment fund UP.Ventures and the annual UP.Summit, an event that brings together 300 of the world’s most innovative minds rethinking the future of transportation. UP.Labs believes that partnering with leading corporations in the mobility space is the fastest way to make an impact on the challenges our society faces. Since its founding in 2022, UP.Labs has worked with corporate partners to identify their most pressing challenges and launch startups built by proven entrepreneurs, product leaders, and technologists to develop transformative solutions. Once these companies have matured, the corporate partners will have the option to acquire them. J.B. Hunt represents UP.Labs’ fourth corporate partnership with the mission of bringing innovation to the forefront of the transportation industry.

About UP.Labs

UP.Labs is a first of its kind Venture Lab using a new venture model to solve core problems for the world’s most important corporations in the mobility world. By bringing together world-class business leaders, investors and corporate partners, UP.Labs solves industry problems for corporations who have the scale and resources but cannot do it on their own. Recognizing that transportation is the underlying fabric of society, UP.Labs utilizes these strategic partnerships to rapidly ideate, build and scale disruptive startups transforming the way we move people and goods to be cleaner, faster, and safer. To learn more visit https://up.partners/labs/.

About UP.Partners

UP.Partners is Transforming the Moving World by building and investing in companies that move people and goods cleaner, faster, safer, and at lower cost — on the ground, in the air, on the sea, and in space. The multi-strategy firm achieves this goal through its unique and virtuous ecosystem encompassing UP.Ventures, UP.Labs, and UP.Summit. UP.Ventures invests in companies and technologies to enable the future of mobility, working with some of the world’s most innovative investors and entrepreneurs. With flagship launch partner Porsche, UP.Labs is a first-of-its-kind venture lab, partnering with the world’s largest corporations to identify the most pressing challenges that they, and broader society, face. The UP.Summit is an invitation-only experience co-hosted with Tom and Steuart Walton and Ross Perot Jr., in Bentonville, AR and Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX respectively, bringing together the world’s most innovative minds to rethink the future of transportation. For more information, visit www.UP.partners or follow on Twitter @UpPartnersVC or LinkedIn.

About J.B. Hunt

J.B. Hunt’s vision is to create the most efficient transportation network in North America. The company’s industry-leading solutions and mode-neutral approach generate value for customers by eliminating waste, reducing costs and enhancing supply chain visibility. Powered by one of the largest company-owned fleets in the country and third-party capacity through its J.B. Hunt 360°® digital freight marketplace, J.B. Hunt can meet the unique shipping needs of any business, from first mile to final delivery, and every shipment in-between. Through disciplined investments in its company foundations of people, technology and capacity, J.B. Hunt is advancing its mission to drive long-term value for its people, customers and shareholders. J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. is a Fortune 500 company, an S&P 500 company and a component of the Dow Jones Transportation Average. Its stock trades on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol JBHT. J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of JBHT. The company’s services include intermodal, dedicated, refrigerated, truckload, less-than-truckload, flatbed, single source, last mile, transload and more. For more information, visit www.jbhunt.com.

About UP.Summit

UP.Summit is an annual, invitation-only gathering of the world’s most innovative minds rethinking the future of transportation. Some of the most impactful investors, entrepreneurs, and leaders in policy, defense, transportation and mobility companies gather at the summit each year with the goal of moving people and goods in cleaner, faster, safer, and at lower-cost ways – on the ground, in the air, on the sea, and in space. UP.Summit was founded in 2017 and is jointly organized by UP.Partners, Tom and Steuart Walton, and Ross Perot Jr.

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Contacts

Mollie Gonzalez

mollie@bulleitgroup.com