Agility Ventures invests $18m in green supply chain tech

Agility Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Kuwait-based logistics provider Agility Logistics, has invested $18 million in technologies to make its supply chain more energy-efficient, Agility announced today.

The announcement came as part of Agility’s 2019 sustainability report, in which the company affirmed its plan to cut emissions from 2016 levels by 25% by 2025. “To reach that goal, the company is implementing renewable energy pilots in large facilities across the world and building to green standards as it adds more than 300,000 square meters of facilities to its portfolio of warehousing and light industrial facilities across the Middle East and Africa,” the announcement stated.

Some of the $18 million also will go toward green technology start-ups, including hybrid trucking technology company Hyliion and solar thermal technology company TVP Solar. Agility estimates that Hyliion’s trucking technology could reduce fuel consumption and emissions by 30% by recycling kinetic energy from braking.

Meanwhile, TVP’s technology already has completed a successful one-year study at Agility’s Kuwait headquarters. According to an April 2018 announcement on the study, TVP’s system “ran automatically and unattended with 98% reliability, showing a mere 8% efficiency loss due to soiling effect.”

According to its sustainability report, Agility also invested in road freight booking platform CargoX, which focuses on markets like Brazil. The platform is meant to reduce the number of empty trucks on the highway – in Brazil, trucks are estimated to run empty about 40% of the time – to reduce freight costs and carbon footprints.

“Green technology is a major focus of our investment strategy, and we’re always on the lookout for dynamic new businesses that can revolutionize the supply chain to help protect the planet,” said Agility Chairwoman Henadi Al-Saleh.