The US mobile goods business is dominated by trucks that handle about two-thirds of the 20.2 billion tonnes of cargo that is transported annually. Matt Soule, founder and CEO of parallel systems, wants to change that by adding a modern, autonomous, electrical twist to centuries of rail systems.
The Los Angeles-based company is working with existing freight vehicles to build battery-powered, autonomous freight technology that integrates with existing train control software. Soule’s Pitch: Paraalelel’s system makes it cheaper for businesses to use rail rather than trucks, and short-distance delivery is available.
Trains are traditionally underutilized, as trains are usually equipped with large, expensive locomotives that pull hundreds of freight cars at once over long distances, so the railways are traditionally underutilized, Soule explained to TechCrunch. In many cases, businesses rely on trucks to travel shorter distances for cargo.
Parallel systems have been developed to allow train cars to be autonomously mounted and separated. This means that businesses can use Parallaled’s technology for a variety of different delivery sizes, and humans do not need to manually connect and disconnect the car. This is a dangerous process. Parallel technology allows freight cars to brake significantly faster than existing trains, Soule added.
“We use a different physical architecture to achieve competitive economics for trucks on a small scale rather than large scale,” says Soule. “The vehicle itself is compatible with existing rail infrastructure. It has been designed and proven to work with traditional rail operations. We do not propose replacing existing freight trains with this.”
The parallel was recently approved by the Federal Railroad Administration to begin piloting Georgia’s technology. The program allows the company to test high-tech trains along a 160-mile stretch between Savannah Port, Georgia, and multiple distribution sites in the state.
Parallel also recently won a $38 million Series B round led by Anthos Capital, with participation from Collaborative Fund, Consibrent Ventures and Riot Ventures. This brings Parallel’s total funding to over $100 million. The fresh capital is directed towards commercialization with companies hoping to hold their first commercial launch in 2026.
Sophie Bakalar, a partner at the Collaborative Fund, told TechCrunch that Parallagle doesn’t fit well with consumer-leaning Generalist papers, but the company was intrigued after being featured through the portfolio’s existing founders.
Collaborative funds usually don’t invest in the region, but shipping and moving products usually have a major impact on the collaboration of consumer companies, Bakalar said, adding that it’s difficult to pass on a good opportunity, even if it’s out of the paper.
“I think this team is really uniquely positioned to solve this issue,” Bakara said. “There aren’t many people who can do that. I think it’s a team that’s suitable for founder products. It’s a large market and a big challenge.”
Soule does not have a particularly railroad background. However, he has a history of working in regulated transport. He spent 20 years in aerospace, 13 of which were SpaceX.
“We were constantly developing new technology,” Saul said. “I worked at Avionics, an electronics and software that controls rockets and is very interested in how all of these technologies can benefit other types of industries that don’t see a lot of innovation.”
He launched the company in 2020, and five years later Parallals is building technology and focusing on commercialising.
While it can be a great feat to have businesses change their delivery and distribution strategies, there is a demand for a variety of solutions, says Soule. He added that they have interests from all over the world, but for now they have plans to focus on the US and Australia.
The news also comes as the US is hanging in tariff range. Once the tariffs are over, Bakalar predicts that companies are trying to cut costs in some way, which could spark more demand for businesses like parallelism.
“This is like a generational innovation in terms of cargo and we don’t see much change in the freight industry,” says Soule. “But this hits an important point.”