Q&A with Burak Cendek, Principal

We catch up with our new Principal, Burak Cendek.

Why did you join Autotech?

Burak: It was a combination of domain, strategy and team. 

To start, the Ground Transportation field itself is so broad and vast that opportunities for start-ups are literally endless.  The domain became near and dear to my heart over the years as I discovered exciting and fascinating aspects firsthand. I spent college summers in the Caltech Robotics Lab.  My first job was designing control systems for heavy-haul locomotives.  I even started my own B2B same day delivery service.  Ultimately it was unsuccessful, but it helps me relate to founders in my role today.      

I remember when the DARPA Grand Challenge was a brand new display of autonomous vehicles - it wasn’t that long ago - and today we see it in development everywhere.  Ground Transportation may not be perceived as cutting edge by some people, but the innovation here certainly is, and it can be impactful at a massive scale.  

That said, being in the right domain isn’t enough to be successful as an investor. It’s imperative for VC firms to have a solid, effective strategy.  You can play the odds - make your investments and move on - resting largely on outside factors to determine the outcome.  Autotech Ventures takes the VC concept a step further by offering strategic services to LPs, and concrete portfolio services that help start-ups drive growth.  It’s a flywheel that drives to a network effect.  It’s unique within the VC world, and it works.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the Autotech team is rock solid - both as colleagues and as investors. The breadth and depth of expertise across the team is truly impressive, with each person bringing a successful track record in their domain.  The environment is very collaborative and transparent, which is conducive to solid investment decisions. I’m both excited and proud to be part of this team.

What mobility trends or innovations should we look out for in 2020?

Burak: As an investor, I tend to seek domains others perceive as unsexy - with massive opportunities that most people are not paying attention to. Take one of our latest investments...KlearNow.  It’s transforming the Customs Clearance industry through document automation.  Customs Clearance is critical to international supply chains and commerce, yet remains archaic and slow.  This is a great example of where the next wave of innovation will come from: antiquated industries, manual back offices and paper heavy processes.  

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are witnessing how critical supply chains are and as a result, supply chain visibility solutions will continue to gain traction along with automation/digitization. The transportation value chain is very fragmented with shippers, carriers, brokers and multiple technology solutions, with valuable data generated at every step of the way. Start-ups are working on gathering and aggregating this data to build applications on top to unlock immense amounts of value. 

Another related domain to look out for in 2020 is digital tools and platforms for road freight brokers and carriers. Carriers and brokers are sometimes neglected, yet crucial for the economy as more than 70% of the goods in the USA are transported via trucks. With the up and down spikes in the volumes of transported goods during the pandemic, I’m seeing innovations that are both commercially and societally beneficial.

A variety of transportation aspects are seeing numerous innovations as the world adapts to social distancing; B2B and B2C last mile delivery, digital car sales, e-commerce fulfillment, tele-operations and manufacturing.

So, if you are building something unsexy, please get in touch with me!