The Future of Logistics Is Here

Alexei Andreev

Managing Director

Autotech Ventures

Alexei brings to Autotech a long track record of investing in hard science startups related to both hardware and software, and he enjoys working with companies that build competitive barriers to entry via fundamental IP or strong network effects. Previously, Alexei was a Managing Director of NY-based VC firm Harris & Harris Group, leading their Silicon Valley office. Prior to H&H, he was at Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), contributing to their VC investments in advanced manufacturing, quantum computing, and alternative energy. Dr. Andreev earned his MBA from Stanford, his PhD in Solid State Physics from Moscow Steel & Alloys Institute, and completed coursework for MA in Liberal Sciences from Dartmouth. In his free time, he enjoys studying quantum mechanics, playing basketball, windsurfing, and surrealist artwork. Dr. Andreev previously served as a board director or observer of numerous companies including D-Wave Systems, Adesto Technologies (NASDAQ:IOTS), Xradia (acq. by Zeiss), NeoPhotonics (NYSE:NPTN) and Molecular Imprints (acq. Canon and Magic Leap).

Yariv Bash

Founder

Flytrex

Yariv is the co-founder and CEO of Flytrex Aviation. Flytrex provides drone delivery solutions for the food and retail sectors, and was the 1st company in the world to deploy a B2C drone delivery system in an urban environment above Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. Flytrex is now taking part in the US Federal Aviation Administration prestigious commercial drone integration pilot program (IPP), with deliveries taking place in North Dakota and soon in North Carolina. Prior to that, Yariv was the co-founder and the 1st CEO of SpaceIL, a $100M Israeli non-profit organization that attempted to land Beresheet, the first private interplanetary robotic mission, on the Moon on April, 2019 making Israel only the 7th nation ever to orbit the moon and reach the lunar surface. Yariv holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Tel Aviv University.

Don Burnette

Co-Founder & CEO

Kodiak Robotics

Don Burnette is Co-Founder and CEO of Kodiak Robotics. Prior to this, he co-founded Otto with other co-league in robotics, which was then acquired by Uber. He used to be staff software engineer in Google before venturing on Otto. Don holds a masters degree in physics from University of Florida and a masters degree in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Nick Chubb

Founder

Thetius

Nick Chubb MNI is the Founder of maritime innovation consultancy Thetius. He spends his time supporting clients in the shipping industry who want to understand and leverage emerging technologies to prepare for the future. Thetius offers a range of services including market research, software development, and talent management. Nick started his career by going to sea as a deck officer in the merchant navy before moving into maritime technology when he came ashore. He has previously held senior commercial positions in a number of organisations, overseeing the launch of new digital products and services. He was Head of Growth at Intelligent Cargo Systems, the startup behind the CargoMate port call optimisation system. He also led the development of digital education platform Learn@Sea on behalf of Marine Society. Within a year of launching, the platform had delivered career enhancing education to more than 10,000 seafarers in more than 20 countries. Outside of work, Nick is an accomplished ultra-endurance athlete, having completed a 300-mile solo trek across the Arabian Peninsula and the notorious Marathon des Sables; a 156-mile ultra marathon across the Sahara Desert billed as “the toughest foot-race on earth”.

Evangelos (Evan) Efstathiou

CEO

Skysail Advisors

Evangelos Efstathiou has a proven track record in delivering maritime portfolio advisory and innovative technology, analytics and business process solutions for ship owning and commodity trading companies. As CEO of Skysail Advisors, Mr. Efstathiou works with clients to identify and execute on strategic initiatives. Prior to founding Skysail in 2016, Mr. Efstathiou held positions at Chinsay, SpecTec, Veson Nautical and Marsoft. Mr. Efstathiou holds a Bachelor of Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He lives in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife Anastasia and daughters Katherine, Aella and Iris. Skysail Advisors is a maritime consulting and technology advisory firm based in Boston, MA. Skysail combines knowledge and know-how of data science and software technologies with deep relationships across shipowners, charterers, private equity and financial institutions to deliver innovative solutions to the maritime, aviation, railroad, commodities and financial technology industries. Over the past 15 years, Skysail’s leadership team has worked with over 100 maritime-related firms in the dry bulk, tanker and containership markets as well as numerous niche market segments.

Elram Goren

Founder

Fabric

Elram Goren is CEO and co-founder of Fabric. He has led the company from its inception in 2015 through its first deployments and now is at the helm of its rapidly scaling operations. Before co-founding Fabric, Elram served as a Major in the Israeli Defense Forces managing R&D teams and multidisciplinary operations in the Intelligence Technology Unit. He is a graduate of the elite Psagot Excellence Program. Elram holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Electrical Engineering from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and an MBA from Tel Aviv University.

Scott Gravelle

CEO

Attabotics

Scott Gravelle is an automation veteran who is currently the founder, CEO, and CTO of Attabotics, a robotics-based supply chain system for modern commerce. Attabotics has been adopted by global brands like Nordstrom and retailers across apparel, food & beverage, home goods, and more, who choose Attabotics to streamline their fulfillment centers, reduce carbon output, and stay competitive. Scott started Attabotics in July 2016 with only a pitch deck and CAD models and has since grown the company to more than 210 employees. Attabotics has been recognized by TIME’s Best Inventions, Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, and was named to the CNBC Disruptor 50 list in 2020 and the CNBC Upstart 100 list in 2019.

Bruce Leak

Playground Global

Bruce Leak is a Founding Partner at Playground Global. From an early age, his intellectual curiosity led to a fascination with computers and emerging technology, and later informed his career path which took him from the frontier days of Apple and Microsoft, to entrepreneurship, to his time at Playground investing in complex ideas with the potential to change the world. With a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from Stanford, Bruce spent two summer internships at Microsoft. There, he tested an early prototype of Microsoft Word for the original IBM PC and later worked on the first versions of Microsoft’s Macintosh applications. His first full time role was with Apple’s System Software team where he led the company’s efforts on 32-bit Color Quickdraw which became the foundation of true color display on Mac screens and led to the birth of Quicktime. Bruce spent five years at Apple expanding the Quicktime team, shipping several versions of the product and speaking at developer conferences. Bruce was later recruited by Steve Perlman to General Magic, and they set out to build a color version of the platform for gaming. In 1993, Bruce joined forces with Peter Barrett and Steve Blank to form Rocket Science Games, where he hired many members of the Quicktime team, supported developers, and built the gaming platform. Bruce’s next venture was WebTV, which he founded with two General Magic alumni, Steve Perlman and Phil Goldman. WebTV was acquired by Microsoft and the company went on to ship the first DVR products for Echostar and DirectTV. After founding several startups selling technology and services to mobile phone operators and automotive OEMs and traveling the world, Bruce co-founded Playground Global—the venture capital firm he wished existed when he was building his own company. From robotics to quantum computing to groundbreaking medical advancements, Playground’s true north is leaving a lasting impact for generations to come. Bruce lives in Palo Alto and can still be found adventuring outdoors by kayak and by land. He is passionate about wildlife conservation, preserving natural habitats, and supporting animal sanctuaries.

Jett McCandless

Founder

project44

Jett is an established Chicago leader with a track record of success. He has steered multiple companies through accelerated growth, providing the logistics space with expertise and innovation along the way. After entering the industry nearly twenty years ago as a dockworker looking to pay for college, Jett started working his way up through various companies quickly noticing the various inefficiencies and outdated processes preventing true supply chain advancement. He saw the potential for acceleration and made it his mission to innovate and improve. After becoming Principal and GlobalTranz, a company with a gross annual revenue of $500 million, Jett decided to sell his stake in the company to pursue his own ventures. He began building companies that would lead the logistics sector into the future, like the Inc. 500 ranked advisory firm, CarrierDirect. The next company Jett founded was project44—the world’s leading advanced visibility platform for shippers and third-party logistics firms—which has raised over $90 million in venture capital funding. A recognized thought leader with a track record of innovation and success, Jett’s leadership has guided startups from ideation stages through expansion. His insights and expertise have been included in publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, Wall Street Journal, Retail Wire, Logistics Management, and Crain’s Chicago Business, and he has given keynote addresses about technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship at major industry events.

Gautam Narang

Co-Founder and CEO

Gatik AI

Gautam Narang is the co-founder & CEO of Gatik. Gatik’s mission is to deliver goods safely and efficiently using autonomous (self-driving) vehicles. The company focuses on business to business (B2B), short-haul logistics for the retail industry, helping customers meet consumer demand for real-time goods, increase road safety and meet an unprecedented expectation for contactless delivery. Before launching Gatik, Gautam was the CTO of Otsaw Digital, which built the world’s first ground-aerial outdoor security robot and partnered with the Dubai police force to deploy 100 units. As an engineer and researcher with over a decade of experience in building diverse robotic systems — from moon rovers and bridge inspection robots to off-road autonomous vehicles and bomb-disposal robots — Gautam is currently focused on building a real commercial product at scale. He believes that light duty autonomous vehicles will play a major role in addressing critical logistics industry pain points, dramatically reducing costs, and achieving a shared ethical responsibility to improve road safety.

Anshu Prasad

Founder

Leaf Logistics

Anshu Prasad is the chief executive officer of Leaf Logistics, a data and analytics platform helping to bring cost and service predictability to the transportation industry. Prior to founding Leaf (formerly known as LogisticsExchange), Prasad built and led A.T. Kearney's global analytics practice, working with clients to utilize technology and data to empower business transformation. He also helped start and grow analytics businesses in the US, Europe and Asia, working at the intersection of supply chain and technology. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Biochemistry, and from Oxford University with an MBA.

Rachel Premack

Senior Transportation Reporter

Business Insider

Rachel is a senior transportation reporter at Business Insider. She writes about logistics — particularly trucking and how deliveries are changing with the rise of e-commerce. Rachel also has a trucking newsletter called Modes. She has appeared on ABC News, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, France24, national radio programs, industry podcasts, and other outlets to discuss her reporting on the trucking industry.

Stefan Rehm

Founder & CEO

Intelipost

Stefan Rehm is the CEO and co-founder of Intelipost, the leading platform for logistics management in LATAM. Stefan was born in Germany but has lived in Brazil since 2012. He was Director of Logistics for several e-commerces and led the operation of a carrier. He actively participates in debates on the logistics market in Brazil.

Jonathan Savior

Founder

Quincus

Jonathan Savoir is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Quincus. In 2014, he and Katherina Lacey started Quincus to disrupt global supply chains through digitalisation. As a pioneering supply chain technology company, Quincus works with high-profile logistics providers, including one of Asia’s biggest airlines, a leading Indonesian taxi firm, and a top global logistics company. Jonathan kickstarted his career as a data scientist and was an Entrepreneur in Residence at INSEAD. In 2019, Jonathan won The Singapore Business Review’s Executive of the Year for Logistics. In 2020, Forbes selected him for its 30 Under 30 Asia list. Jonathan has a Bachelor of Engineering from Cardiff University, a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Imperial College London, a Master of Science in Economics and Operations from INSEAD, and a Joint Graduate Studies degree in Economics from Harvard University. Apart from Quincus, he sits on the board at Arcstone and has also invested in multiple other companies.

Tony Sciarrotta

Executive Director

Reverse Logistics Association

In 2016, Tony took over and became the Executive Director of the RLA after 12 years of on the Advisory Board and Committees. In his 35 plus years in the consumer products industry, Tony has held various positions including 15 years in returns management at Philips where he developed new reverse logistics strategies. He worked with retail partners and industry groups to implement returns initiatives still in use. Tony has been an evangelist for improving the customer experience to reduce returns and their associated costs. Today, Tony is considered a subject matter expert in reverse logistics, and speaks for the industry at conferences all over the world.

John Seidl

Partner

GreyOrange

John is a member of the GreyOrange leadership team and is responsible for all global strategic clients. Marketing, Sales, Delivery and Account Management are all parts of John’s day to day responsibilities. Service offering development, 3rd party collaborations and industry thought leadership are components of his customer facing role. John’s team members are globally positioned and work with the top GreyOrange clients around the world. John joined GreyOrange in January 2020 after a 30 year career in supply chain technology consulting focused on the retail industry.

Ian Sweeny

SVP & GM

Trov

Ian Sweeney is an entrepreneurial business management expert specializing in early-stage product launches at technology companies. He has over 20 years of experience working with a broad range of enterprises including Dolby Labs and Taulia and tech product start-ups in the automotive and FinTech markets. At Trov, Sweeney manages growth and drives innovation in the emerging space of mobility insurance. Sweeney lives in Oakland, CA with his wife and two sons and serves as a mentor at SkyDeck Berkeley and a board member of the Montclair Soccer Club.

Milind Tavshikar

CEO

SmartKargo

Milind is responsible for leadership, integration, and strategy. He has over 25 years of experience in envisioning and creating technology products and solutions for the world’s most critical business challenges. He possesses a unique combination of deep skills in information technology, broad experience in business management, and champions best practices in global leadership. At SmartKargo, Milind is hands-on, involved in all aspects of the business and assisting the teams that grow the company. He works with the product architecture group to design new features to keep pace with rapid industry change. He works with the support team to understand customer requirements and resolve customer issues. He works with the accounting team to ensure company financials remain in good order. He enjoys being in the field and interacting directly with customers, and helps the sales team to close new business and write SmartKargo success stories. Milind is a speaker at industry conferences and has co-authored a paper published by MIT’s Center for Digital Innovation. Milind holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering, and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a MIT Sloan Fellow.

Bruce Welty

CEO

Quiet Logistics

Bruce has been a pioneer and visionary in automating warehouses since before the Internet. He has built, bought and sold some of the industry’s most innovative companies. He’s automated warehouses for Fortune 500s, e-Commerce startups, and even built a fulfillment company that ships more than $1 billion worth of e-Commerce orders each year. It was his direct experience with warehouses, fulfillment, and robotics that inspired him to build an entirely new solution.

Michael Zayonc

Founder

Plug and Play