Whip Around, a New Zealand-based SaaS company that aims to make fleet inspection and maintenance a much easier process, just closed a $14 million Series B round. The startup will use the funds to expand its New Zealand-based team while growing its reach in the United States, where most of its business resides, according to the company.
“The market is in the early innings of a transition from paper-based manual processes to the digital solution that Whip Around provides,” said CEO Noah Hickey in a statement. “There is a significant opportunity to help streamline the transport industry and grow the company.”
The funding round was led by Punakaiki Fund, a NZ VC firm, and Amplo, a Texas-based VC firm with multiple software businesses in its portfolio, including Intercom, Robinhood and Sharesies.
Many fleets in the U.S. are mandated by federal regulations to inspect assets daily and retain inspection and maintenance records for up to five years, and doing this by hand and on paper costs fleet operators valuable time, according to a spokesperson for Whip Around. To solve for that, Whip Around aims to replace the paper-based fleet inspection process with a digital one that makes it easier to track progress over time, hold employees accountable and predict future maintenance needs.
“We believe that the digitization of these compliance and maintenance processes will only become more mission-critical as the regulators look for ways to follow on from the [electronic logging device] mandate and other increased reporting requirements being put on fleet operators,” the spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Whip Around provides its software solutions to customers ranging from small independents to larger fleets, including Imperfect Foods, Belknap, PODS moving and storage and 1-800-GOT-JUNK?. It currently has a team of 70 in Auckland, North Carolina and Texas, and hopes to use the funding to add onto its product and engineering team.
