Terminal raises USD $20 million to unify telematics data

Terminal has raised USD $20 million in Series A funding led by Battery Ventures, bringing the Toronto-based company's total funding to USD $26 million.

The round included new strategic investors Intact Private Capital and Penske, alongside existing backers Y Combinator and Wayfinder Ventures. Several Terminal customers also participated.

Founded in 2023, Terminal sells software that connects insurers, fleet operators, logistics groups and financial services companies with commercial vehicle telematics providers through a single application programming interface. Its platform connects with 333 telematics providers and standardises data that would otherwise arrive in different formats and through separate consent and authorisation processes.

Commercial vehicle telematics data can include location, speed, fuel use, maintenance information, fault codes and safety events collected from devices such as electronic logging devices, dashboard cameras, OBD-II readers and GPS trackers. For customers that rely on this information, building direct integrations with hundreds of providers has typically required extensive technical and compliance work before the data can be used.

Terminal will use the new capital to expand in insurance, fleet management and logistics. It has focused on large corporate customers and says it has secured multi-year contracts with major insurers and Fortune 500 companies.

Fragmented market

Terminal is targeting a part of the transport technology market where fragmented data has slowed broader use of telematics in underwriting, fleet oversight and logistics planning. Insurers are using telematics to sharpen risk pricing, while fleet software groups are using the same data to reduce fuel, maintenance and safety costs.

As part of the investment, Battery Ventures General Partner Marcus Ryu, former Chief Executive Officer of Guidewire Software, will join Terminal's board. He said the company had attracted unusual customer backing at an early stage.

"Telematics data is three times more predictive of future risk than any other underwriting variable, yet fragmentation has kept that value out of reach for fleet managers and insurance companies until now," said Marcus Ryu, General Partner, Battery Ventures.

"It is a rare and compelling signal of product strength and team execution that major insurers and fleet operators are adopting and investing in Terminal at this early stage of its journey," Ryu said.

Its software validates incoming information with artificial intelligence-based data quality checks before normalising it into a common format. That allows customers to work with a single data structure rather than managing separate links to each telematics service provider.

Customer demand

Terminal's customers include insurers using telematics in commercial motor underwriting, as well as fleet management, logistics and financial services businesses. The company says some insurers using its system can offer premium savings of up to 20% for safe driving behaviour.

Raghav Midha, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Terminal, said the company is trying to solve a basic infrastructure problem that has limited access to telematics data across the sector.

"Telematics data is one of the transportation industry's most valuable assets, but it has lived across hundreds of distinct providers, which has made it hard to access and use at scale," Midha said.

"Terminal exists to accelerate innovation across this industry. We are the neutral infrastructure layer that connects those providers and normalises their data into a single, consistent format, so insurance, fleet management, logistics and financial services companies can each bring valuable products to market faster. This funding lets us deepen our provider partnerships and meet growing demand across these segments," he said.

The business emerged from the Y Combinator Summer 2023 cohort and was founded by Midha and Chief Technology Officer Connor Giles. The pair drew on previous experience in application programming interface integration and fleet operations, including work tied to family-run logistics and HVAC businesses.

Strategic investor Intact Private Capital said its involvement reflects confidence in the market for better telematics data handling. The firm has already worked with Terminal and says it has seen improvements in how large insurers manage fragmented commercial telematics data.

"Intact Private Capital is excited to continue supporting Terminal and we're confident it is on its way to becoming a leading data infrastructure provider for the physical world," said Justin Smith-Lorenzetti, Managing Director, Intact Private Capital.

"Since partnering with Terminal, we've seen firsthand the improvements it has brought to commercial telematics sophistication, helping solve complex and fragmented data challenges for the world's largest insurance companies. Terminal has assembled an incredible team and we're looking forward to seeing it tackle the telematics opportunity ahead," Smith-Lorenzetti said.