LongJump, the most active pre-seed fund for Chicago-based founders, is proud to welcome two new companies to our portfolio: FreshX and Tercero Technologies. Since mid-2021, LongJump has conducted twelve application cycles, with the most recent cycle receiving the highest volume of applications to date. With their funding, they stood out as the top 1% of our applicant pool and represent the 36th and 37th investments from our first fund.
Applications for LongJump’s next round of funding close on July 15 at 12pm CT.
About FreshX
FreshX is bringing cold-chain services online to make pricing and scheduling faster, cheaper, and more transparent. The team has built an Expedia-like freight booking experience for refrigerated goods that fill less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments.
Why We’re Excited
The cold chain segment of the logistics market has been largely overlooked for innovation. Most suppliers and customers still rely on manual pricing sheets, physical freight schedules, and email for quoting and booking. FreshX is positioned to modernize these processes through automated pricing and booking for LTL cold shippers.
The refrigerated LTL market is rapidly growing, driven by increasing consumer demand. Despite its potential, this niche has been underserved by technological advancements. FreshX aims to fill this gap with a vision to extend its technological innovations across the entire cold chain.
FreshX founders Clay Curran and Lance Hackney celebrating their recent $1M win at the 2024 UChicago New Venture Challenge
FreshX has been on an impressive trajectory since its founding in 2023. Founders Clay Curran and Lance Hackney participated in the Techstars Chicago program at the end of 2023, where they focused on enhancing their tech solution that currently represents over 10% of the total supply side of LTL cold chain. Shortly after LongJump’s investment this May, FreshX was recognized as the winner of the University of Chicago’s New Venture Challenge with an award of over $1M in funding.
Carl P. Evans III, Founder of Tercero Technologies
About Tercero Technologies
Tercero Technologies develops software to make it easy for the Department of Defense (DoD) to deploy machine learning models using field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). FPGAs are reprogrammable chips that provide power efficiency advantages over GPUs but have historically been difficult to develop. Tercero’s product develops FPGA designs in hours using machine learning models.
Founder Carl P. Evans III is a roboticist and former Silicon Valley technology lawyer. His engineering background includes working with defense and commercial enterprises.
Why We’re Excited
There’s strong evidence that the DoD is planning to invest heavily in AI R&D over the next decade. Tercero already has early traction with USMC and Navy contracts; it was also selected to receive two SBIR grants supporting its research and development initiatives. Carl is a repeat founder with substantial experience in robotics engineering for companies selling to the US military, along with a legal background focused on intellectual property and tech commercialization. The company is uniquely positioned to bring edge technologies to the DoD.