Trucks Venture Capital

Reviewed Updated Mar 24, 2026

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Location San Francisco, CA
Founded 2016
Fund Size $70M (Fund 3, 2025); $52.5M (Fund 2, 2021)
Website https://www.trucks.vc
Stage Focus
pre-seed seed
Sector Focus
transportation autonomous-vehicles electric-vehicles aviation logistics mobility climate

Team

Reilly Brennan Founding General Partner
Jeffrey Schox Founding Partner
Kathryn Schox Founding Partner
Puneeth Meruva Partner

About

Trucks Venture Capital is a seed-stage venture capital firm focused exclusively on transportation technology, founded in 2016 by Reilly Brennan, Jeffrey Schox, and Kathryn Schox 12. The firm is headquartered in San Francisco, California 1.

Reilly Brennan, the firm’s Founding General Partner, previously served as Executive Director of Stanford University’s Revs Program (its automotive research program) and taught entrepreneurship courses in Stanford’s School of Engineering and d.school, working with IDEO founder David Kelley 23. He grew up in Michigan and spent three years at General Motors early in his career 2. Jeffrey Schox is also the founder of Schox Patent Group, a patent law firm focused on startups, and was an early angel investor in companies including Twilio (first investor), Cruise, and Zendrive 4. Kathryn Schox developed the firm’s core mission framework of “decarbonized, safer, and more accessible” transportation and led investments in ChargerHelp!, Gatik, Bear Flag Robotics, and Wise Systems 4. In May 2023, Puneeth Meruva was promoted to Partner after joining as an intern from MIT approximately five years earlier 56.

The firm has raised three flagship funds. Trucks Venture Fund 2 (TVF2) closed at $52,525,252 in 2021 7. In January 2025, the firm announced Trucks Venture Fund 3 (TVF3) with $70 million in commitments, its largest fund to date 89. The firm also launched a separate Trucks Growth Fund in 2021 to invest in later-stage rounds of seed portfolio companies 10. TVF3 targets approximately 30 seed investments with check sizes of $500,000 to $2 million, typically seeking approximately 10% ownership stakes 89.

The firm’s limited partner base includes transportation industry strategics: vehicle manufacturers, Tier 1 suppliers, tire manufacturers, insurance providers, rental car agencies, and airline carriers 89.

As of early 2026, Trucks has invested in approximately 60-64 portfolio companies across its funds 111. The firm reviews approximately 1,000 companies per year, filtering down to about 300 that meet initial criteria, and makes 6-8 new seed investments every 12 months 1012. Brennan also publishes a widely read weekly newsletter called “Future of Transportation” (FoT) that reaches over 10,000 readers including automotive CEOs, analysts, and founders 2.

Stated Thesis

Trucks VC publicly states its mission as funding “the entrepreneurs building the future of transportation” 1. The firm evaluates investments against three criteria: whether a company makes transportation decarbonized, safer, or more accessible 112.

Brennan has described the firm’s approach as relationship-driven rather than sector-allocation-driven, stating: “Our main strategy is be so good that the best founders have to have a conversation with you early, as opposed to looking for, hey, in this fund, I want to have four hydrogen companies and four EV charging companies; we tend to not do that” 2. He has also said: “While many investors believe they are in the ‘deal flow’ business, I am in the ‘people flow’ business” 2.

The firm defines transportation broadly. Brennan has noted that “transportation is actually like 15 markets together,” allowing the fund to shift between segments as they mature 12. The firm’s stated thesis has expanded from ground vehicles to encompass aviation, aerospace, maritime, and micromobility 812.

The firm also emphasizes geographic breadth and diversity; Brennan has noted periods where zero California investments were made, instead funding companies in Seattle, Kansas City, Ann Arbor, Africa, and Toronto 2.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 64 verified portfolio companies from the Trucks VC portfolio page 1:

Sector distribution: - Autonomous vehicles and robotics: 14 of 64 (22%) — Gatik, May Mobility, NuTonomy, DeepScale, Bear Flag Robotics, Nauto, Skyryse, Starsky Robotics, Faction, Terraline, Edge Case Research, Ottometric, TorqueAGI, Teleo - Electric vehicles and batteries: 10 of 64 (16%) — BasiGo, Bedrock, Estes Energy, Cling Systems, River, Revolv, Bidirectional Energy, Bingo Tech, Roadio, Veecle - Aviation and aerospace: 6 of 64 (9%) — Joby Aviation, JetZero, Universal Hydrogen, Stralis Aircraft, Auriga Space, Maritime Fusion - EV charging and energy: 5 of 64 (8%) — ChargerHelp!, Stable Auto, Treehouse, Aperia, Zitara - Software and data platforms: 10 of 64 (16%) — Zendrive, Aurora Labs, Wise Systems, Coord, Route Reports, Quarter20, Fusaware, Ember Robotics, LGN, eXlens.ai - Mobility and consumer services: 8 of 64 (13%) — Roadster, Meter Feeder, Token Transit, Skip, Drop Mobility, Swyft, TurnSignl, Plover - Logistics and freight: 3 of 64 (5%) — Denim, Xona Space Systems, Carvis AI - Other transportation: 5 of 64 (8%) — Nauto, Quadric, Zohr, RailVision, SEEVA Technologies

Stage distribution: The overwhelming majority of investments are at seed and pre-seed, consistent with the firm’s stated focus. The Trucks Growth Fund (launched 2021) enables follow-on investments in later rounds such as Gatik’s $85M Series B 10.

Geographic patterns: While headquartered in San Francisco, the portfolio includes companies based outside the Bay Area and outside the US, including BasiGo (Africa), River (India), and Bingo Tech (international) 1. Brennan has explicitly noted periods of zero California deals 2.

Notable patterns: - Strong emphasis on autonomy (22% of portfolio) despite the firm not marketing itself as an “autonomous vehicle fund” - Increasing focus on aviation and aerospace in recent funds, including JetZero, Auriga Space, and Stralis Aircraft - Hydrogen as a recurring theme across transportation modes: Universal Hydrogen (aviation), Verne (storage), Maritime Fusion (shipping) - Deep technical founders preferred — many portfolio companies spin out of university labs or involve deep engineering teams

Co-investor patterns: True Ventures (Bear Flag Robotics), Y Combinator (Bear Flag Robotics, May Mobility), BMW i Ventures and Toyota AI Ventures (May Mobility), Koch Disruptive Technologies (Gatik), Energy Impact Partners (ChargerHelp!). The firm’s strategic LP base in the transportation industry provides deal flow advantages in the sector.

Notable exits: NuTonomy (acquired by Delphi for ~$450M, 2017) 2, Bear Flag Robotics (acquired by John Deere) 1, DeepScale (acquired by Tesla, 2019) 13, Roadster (acquired by CDK Global, 2021) 14, Zendrive (acquired by Intuit) 1, Coord (acquired by Google) 1, Denim (acquired by Truckstop.com, 2025) 15, Teleo (acquired by Havoc AI) 1, Revolv (acquired by Zenobe, 2026) 16. AEye went public on NASDAQ in August 2021 17; Joby Aviation is publicly traded on NYSE 1.

Portfolio

Based on 64 companies listed on the Trucks VC portfolio page 1, with supplemental investment date information from public sources. Note: specific investment years for many seed-stage deals are not publicly disclosed; years below reflect the best publicly available information.

Company Stage Year Sector Status
AEye Seed ~2017 Lidar/ADAS Public (NASDAQ: LIDR) 117
Aperia Seed ~2017 Tire tech Active 1
Auriga Space Seed 2025 Aerospace Active 18
Aurora Labs Seed ~2018 OTA software Active 1
BasiGo Seed ~2021 Electric buses (Africa) Active 1
Bear Flag Robotics Pre-seed 2017 Autonomous agriculture Acquired (John Deere) 118
Bedrock Seed ~2024 Sodium-ion batteries Active 1
Bidirectional Energy Seed ~2023 V2X EV charging Active 1
Bingo Tech Seed ~2023 Battery swapping Active 1
Carvis AI Seed 2025 AI automotive diagnostics Active 18
ChargerHelp! Seed ~2020 EV charger maintenance Active 119
Cling Systems Seed 2021 Battery recycling Active 120
Coord Seed ~2018 Mobility data Acquired (Google) 1
DeepScale Seed ~2018 Perception software Acquired (Tesla, 2019) 113
Denim Seed ~2019 Freight fintech Acquired (Truckstop, 2025) 115
Drop Mobility Seed ~2019 Micromobility Active 1
Edge Case Research Seed ~2018 Vehicle safety Active 1
Ember Robotics Seed ~2023 Sensor diagnostics Active 1
Estes Energy Seed ~2023 Commercial EV batteries Active 1
eXlens.ai Seed ~2024 Manufacturing AI Active 1
Faction Seed ~2021 Driverless EVs Active 1
Fusaware Seed ~2022 Hardware safety software Active 1
Gatik Seed 2018 Autonomous logistics Active 110
JetZero Seed ~2023 Zero-emissions aircraft Active 121
Joby Aviation Seed ~2017 Electric air taxi Public (NYSE: JOBY) 1
LGN Seed ~2024 Real-world AI Active 1
Maritime Fusion Seed ~2024 Nuclear fusion (maritime) Active 1
May Mobility Seed 2017 Autonomous shuttles Active 122
Meter Feeder Seed ~2017 Parking payments Active 1
Nauto Seed ~2016 Fleet vision/safety Active 1
NuTonomy Seed ~2016 Autonomous fleets Acquired (Delphi, ~$450M, 2017) 12
Ottometric Seed ~2022 Validation software Active 1
Plover Seed ~2023 Robotic car washing Active 1
Quadric Seed ~2018 Vehicle supercomputers Active 1
Quarter20 Seed ~2020 Hardware documentation Active 1
RailVision Seed ~2019 Rail fuel efficiency Active 1
Revolv Seed ~2021 Fleet electrification Acquired (Zenobe, 2026) 116
River Seed ~2022 Electric mopeds (India) Active 1
Roadio Seed ~2023 Micromobility ADAS Active 1
Roadster Seed ~2016 Auto e-commerce Acquired (CDK Global, 2021) 114
Route Reports Seed ~2019 Transit monitoring Active 1
SEEVA Technologies Seed ~2017 Sensor cleaning Active 120
Skip Seed ~2018 Electric scooters Active 1
Skyryse Seed ~2017 Flight control automation Active 1
Stable Auto Seed ~2020 EV charging management Active 1
Starsky Robotics Seed ~2017 Autonomous trucking Active 1
Stralis Aircraft Seed ~2023 Hydrogen electric aircraft Active 1
Swyft Seed 2020 Same-day delivery Active 120
Tangram Vision Seed ~2020 Perception sensors Active 1
Teleo Seed ~2019 Tele-operated construction Acquired (Havoc AI) 1
Terraline Seed ~2023 Autonomous heavy trucks Active 1
Token Transit Seed ~2018 Mobile transit ticketing Active 1
TorqueAGI Seed ~2024 Robot foundation models Active 1
Treehouse Seed 2025 EV charger installation Active 18
TurnSignl Seed ~2021 Legal services for drivers Active 1
Universal Hydrogen Seed 2020 Hydrogen aviation Active 120
Veecle Seed ~2023 Software-defined vehicles Active 1
Verne Seed ~2023 Hydrogen storage Active 1
Wise Systems Seed ~2018 Route optimization Active 1
Xona Space Systems Seed 2020 GNSS positioning Active 120
Zendrive Seed ~2016 Driver safety analytics Acquired (Intuit) 12
Zitara Seed ~2021 Battery management Active 1
Zohr Seed ~2019 Mobile tire service Active 1

Note: Years marked with “~” are approximated from company founding dates or contextual information; exact investment dates for many seed deals are not publicly disclosed. This table represents 64 of approximately 64 companies listed on the firm’s portfolio page 1. Tracxn reports 60 portfolio companies as of mid-2025 11.

In Their Own Words

Reilly Brennan on founding Trucks VC: “Gosh, there’s a lot of smart people here who are leaving labs, specifically at Stanford, but at other places as well, and they’re not able to get financing. And I’m going to go and get them their first check. I’m going to help them build their business and get off the ground” 2.

Brennan on the scope of transportation investing: “Transportation is actually like 15 markets together” 12.

Brennan on the firm’s investment approach: “Our main strategy is be so good that the best founders have to have a conversation with you early, as opposed to looking for, hey, in this fund, I want to have four hydrogen companies and four EV charging companies; we tend to not do that” 2.

Brennan on early-stage sourcing: “I can’t wait to find out about a company…I have to know about them almost before they’re starting” 2.

Brennan on the nature of transportation: “Transportation is a dialectic — it has the potential to do a lot for us, but also a lot to us” 12.

Brennan on SPACs in the transportation sector: “It’s all really kind of confusing and somewhat icky…My description of SPACs right now is like when I first went to the circus — I wasn’t sure if it smelled like popcorn or feet” 12.

Brennan on his approach to deal sourcing: “While many investors believe they are in the ‘deal flow’ business, I am in the ‘people flow’ business” 2.

Brennan on Fund 3 strategy: “Our goal is to engage with the best entrepreneurs early, without rigidly adhering to predefined sectors” 8.

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found. Dedicated searches for founder quotes praising or reviewing Trucks VC did not yield verifiable results from portfolio company founders.

Sources

  1. Trucks VC portfolio page, accessed March 2026. https://www.trucks.vc/portfolio↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  2. GTK Partners, “Trucks VC: Reilly Brennan, General Partner,” accessed March 2026. https://gtkpartners.com/trucks↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  3. Stanford Revs Program, “People,” accessed March 2026. https://revs.stanford.edu/about/people↩

  4. Trucks VC about page and Crunchbase profiles for Jeffrey Schox and Kathryn Schox, accessed March 2026. https://www.trucks.vc/about↩↩

  5. Trucks VC blog, “Puneeth Meruva Named Trucks Partner,” accessed March 2026. https://www.trucks.vc/blog/puneeth-meruva-named-trucks-partner↩

  6. EVCA, “Meet Puneeth Meruva, Partner at Trucks Venture Capital,” accessed March 2026. https://www.evca.org/blog/meet-puneeth-meruva↩

  7. TechCrunch, “Trucks VC launches two new funds for early and late-stage transportation startups,” June 8, 2021. https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/08/trucks-vc-launches-two-new-funds-for-early-and-late-stage-transportation-startups/↩

  8. FoundersToday, “Trucks VC from Silicon Valley launches $70M Fund to back Next-Generation Transportation Startups,” accessed March 2026. https://www.founderstoday.news/trucks-vc-launches-70m-fund/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  9. Trucks VC blog, “Announcing Trucks Venture Fund 3 LP,” accessed March 2026. https://www.trucks.vc/blog/announcing-trucks-venture-fund-3-lp↩↩↩

  10. Trucks VC blog, “Our first Trucks Growth Fund investment: Gatik AI, building the autonomous middle mile,” accessed March 2026. https://www.trucks.vc/blog/our-first-trucks-growth-fund-investment-gatik↩↩↩↩

  11. Tracxn, “Trucks Venture Capital — 2025 Investor Profile, Portfolio, Team & Investment Trends,” accessed March 2026. https://tracxn.com/d/venture-capital/trucks-venture-capital/__ENJdVRsTE_5HPn4nxr19r44199Uf-HkGlFVeCh4u5A4↩↩

  12. CTVC, “In the Spotlight: Reilly Brennan (Trucks VC),” accessed March 2026. https://www.ctvc.co/in-the-spotlight-reilly-brennan-trucks/↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  13. TechCrunch, “Tesla acquires computer vision startup DeepScale in push toward robotaxis,” October 1, 2019. https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/01/tesla-acquires-computer-vision-startup-deepscale-in-push-towards-autonomy/↩↩

  14. Global Venturing, “CDK Global parks $360m Roadster,” accessed March 2026. https://globalventuring.com/corporate/cdk-global-parks-360m-roadster/↩↩

  15. Truckstop.com, “Truckstop.com Acquires DENIM,” August 2025. https://truckstop.com/press-releases/truckstop-acquires-denim/↩↩

  16. Zenobe, “Zenobe expands its North American fleet with acquisition of Revolv,” March 2026. https://www.zenobe.com/news-and-events/zenobe-expands-its-north-american-fleet-with-acquisition-of-revolv/↩↩

  17. TechCrunch, “AEye becomes latest lidar company to go public via SPAC,” February 17, 2021. https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/17/aeye-becomes-latest-lidar-company-to-go-public-via-spac/↩↩

  18. Crunchbase News, “Exclusive: Bear Flag Robotics Lands $7.9M Seed Extension To Make Self-driving Tractors,” accessed March 2026. https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/exclusive-bear-flag-robotics-lands-7-9m-seed-extension-to-make-self-driving-tractors/↩

  19. CTVC, “ChargerHelp (Kameale Terry),” accessed March 2026. https://www.ctvc.co/chargerhelp-kameale-terry/↩

  20. Trucks VC investment memos page, accessed March 2026. https://www.trucks.vc/categories/investment-memos↩↩↩↩↩

  21. JetZero press release, “JetZero Raises $175 Million in Series B Financing,” January 13, 2026. https://www.jetzero.aero/jetzero-raises-175-million-in-series-b-financing↩

  22. University of Michigan Innovation Partnerships, “May Mobility raises $11.5M in seed funding,” accessed March 2026. https://innovationpartnerships.umich.edu/stories/may-mobility-raises-11-5m-in-seed-funding-to-accelerate-deployment-of-self-driving-shuttle-fleets/↩