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This article is part of a series highlighting startups participating in the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund (MBRIF) accelerator program.
Anyone who has frequented the roads of the UAE (or any other country) must have noticed the grey or black smoke from huge trucks that hangs in the air for long periods of time. But did you know that heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses account for less than 8% of the world’s vehicles (excluding two- and three-wheelers), but are responsible for more than 35% of direct carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from road transport?
The statistic comes from a 2023 report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based organization that works with governments and industry players to provide policy recommendations and analysis on the global energy sector. The same IEA report emphasizes that decarbonizing the trucking industry requires strict carbon emission policies. This aligns well with the mission of Estonia-based startup BaseTrack, which provides fuel economy solutions and transportation management systems that help trucking companies reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
“We make the trucking industry more efficient and safer by improving what drivers do in the driver’s seat,” explains Ilya Klyuev, co-founder and chief development officer at BaseTrack. “Trucks are critical and offer a large market with a lot of opportunity. According to a study by the American Trucking Associations, more than 70% of goods are transported by truck in the U.S. alone. But these vehicles are unsafe and emit large amounts of CO2. So we found a way to fix that for a better future and bring not only sustainability but also economic benefits to trucking companies. BaseTrack provides fuel economy solutions and a comprehensive transportation management system to increase the efficiency of human-driven truck fleets.”
Founded in 2019, the startup offers what it calls its BaseTrack Smart Freight (BaseTrack SF) solution, which combines internal and external parameters such as temperature, weather and road conditions to provide real-time driving recommendations and efficient cruise control calculations. For example, using a digital map of the roads – a device integrated into the truck system with a screen for the driver to monitor – the BaseTrack SF tool displays the optimal speed (i.e. whether the driver needs to speed up or slow down on a particular road) using simple color prompts that are easy for the driver to understand without having to concentrate too much on the screen. The software also takes into account factors such as the load and engine characteristics of the specific truck, and using this, the BaseTrack SF solution suggests to the driver how to optimally drive the truck so that logistics-related requirements are adhered to while ensuring sustainable fuel consumption at the same time. “Our product increases the efficiency of the driver, which ultimately reduces the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of our customers’ vehicles,” Klyuev adds. “We offer this as a service and charge our clients a monthly or annual fee, and for our clients, this system pays for itself within a few months.”
But the BaseTrack SF solution isn’t the startup’s only attempt to tackle the trucking industry’s carbon footprint. The technology used in this particular device is actually a simplified version of the technology used in BaseTrack’s long-term goal: self-driving truck services. In fact, the ultimate goal for Klyuev and his team is to ensure a transition from human-driven trucks to fully autonomous vehicles that can be remotely controlled to reduce CO2 emissions.
“We are already a leading provider in several regions, and our self-driving trucks are actually delivering commercial goods on public roads,” Klyuev revealed. “But the business model topic is still quite difficult. We are still working on the regulations for self-driving trucks and want to see what the future of trucking will be. Currently, we have our own self-driving trucks and provide them to our customers (shippers) as a traditional subcontractor (i.e. a transport company), but we are working with partners and the government to shape a sustainable future trucking ecosystem. In the UAE, we have already conducted public demonstrations and test drives of our self-driving trucks for customers in areas such as Ras Al Khaimah Special Economic Zone, Dubai South, and even in parts of the desert.”
Related: Startup Spotlight: UAE-based TranspRight helps build a more sustainable supply chain ecosystem in the region
While BaseTrack’s enthusiasm for the autonomous truck industry is a big driving force for the company right now, the company’s vision is still pretty much rooted in reality. For starters, the startup’s official website itself states that now is “not the time for autonomous driving.” To get to that final destination, Klyuev sees BaseTrack SF as the perfect tool to encourage a gradual transition. “You know, the same technologies that can enable partial or full automation of trucks are now being used to focus on safety and efficiency,” Klyuev explains. “To provide fuel economy solutions, we are using a simplified version of advanced autonomous truck technologies, so we are actually slowly preparing the industry for the transition to autonomous trucks.” It may be easy to confuse the denial of human-driven trucks with job cuts, but Klyuev is adamant that this is by no means the case. “Our current end users are drivers. We interact with them all the time, exchanging experiences,” he explains. “Autonomy is not possible without the inclusion of the human driving experience, so we aim to be the bridge that turns everyday drivers into remote operators and potentially autonomous fleet managers.”
Based on the view that the UAE has great potential for technology startups like ours, BaseTrack relocated its research and development (R&D) facilities as well as its core team there in 2023. According to Klyuev, the BaseTrack team’s initial success in Europe (where they developed their own self-driving car using their collective experience in geographic information science during a one-year “hobby phase” in 2017-2018) has given the company the confidence to expand in the UAE and across the Middle East. The core team’s extensive experience has allowed BaseTrack to provide a unique solution to the region so far. “We offer the most efficient eco-driving solution on the European market in terms of fuel economy, and it also fits mixed vehicles and old trucks as an aftermarket solution, which is unique,” Klyuev said. “In general, our technology is the first all-weather autonomous technology and we are still the only company operating in severe weather conditions (heavy rain, snow, ice, desert) even though we demonstrated it as a hobby in 2017. We are also the first company in the GCC to be invited to demonstrate an autonomous truck on public roads, so we don’t have any competitors in the UAE yet.”
But all this doesn’t mean that BaseTrack’s operations in the UAE have been smooth sailing. “Some of the challenges in the UAE are related to opening a bank account, setting up an office (due to bureaucracy and, in our case, unexpectedly high fees at each stage), and obtaining a local driver’s license (as domestic licenses are usually not accepted),” Klyuev says. “We also found that venture capitalists are not yet ready to invest long-term. All investors are looking for short-term profits and want to invest in software/software as a service (SaaS) or B2C solutions that are already generating revenue. Nevertheless, the UAE has a business-friendly tax regime, access to capital, and a bright vision for the future and innovation.” Indeed, one UAE-based program that has shown interest in BaseTrack’s long-term goals is the MBRIF Innovation Accelerator. “It seems to be widely known among UAE startups that MBRIF is the best place for startups to grow in the country (and even abroad). MBRIF provides excellent support and the program is offered free of charge to startups,” says Klyuev. “The MBRIF program is backed by the government, the team has the power to connect startups with the best mentors and partners, and the amount of knowledge and connections is truly impressive. We’ve already joined and started reaping the benefits of the program and we’ve only had positive feedback!”
The company has raised $3 million to date and is currently seeking to raise another $5.4 million. But as BaseTrack takes its next steps, Klyuev emphasizes that the team is maintaining a pragmatic approach while also working to realize the dream of the autonomous truck industry. “We’ve always focused on efficiency and kept our headcount below 25 people,” Klyuev says. “Still, our ambition and technological advantages helped us lead in the field of all-weather self-driving, and later autonomous trucks. In contrast to the US-based moonshots, we’ve diversified our product lineup and commercialized both short-term and long-term products. We believe this will allow us to become a unicorn within a few years.”
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