NoDwell
$48M Lead. $6M Remaining. You're Invited.
A lead investor has committed $48M for 62.67% equity in a 3-year growth partnership. We are raising the final $6M from strategic and angel investors who want a seat at the table before the round closes.
Everything you need to evaluate the opportunity.
Full transparency. Interactive model. Real numbers.
Technology
AI-native, cloud-first. 60%+ less dev CapEx than traditional SaaS.
Revenue
$500K per site. $125K EBITDA. 200 sites by Year 3.
Team
Phased leadership build. Hiring from the companies we're replacing.
Real Estate
Fleet staging with a revenue hedge. Turns off as we grow.
Our Story
22 years of freight. 3 companies. $30M+ lifetime revenue.
The Problem Hiding in Plain Sight
Detention gets all the attention. But it captures only 5-10% of the real waste. The rest is systemic, unpriced, and normalized as "the way it's always been."
Slack Time
All on-duty, non-productive time during which a truck and driver are dispatched, legally available but unable to move freight due to coordination, scheduling, or facility-driven constraints.
Real Drivers, Real Frustration
Democratized Drop-and-Hook
On-demand, fractional access to local truck power - coordinated through a marketplace platform. No additional asset ownership. No additional compliance.
Fractional Truck Power
Dock switches - our core service, live today. Entering beta for local P&D, trailer repositioning, and relay services. Service radius ~75 miles within major metros.
FMCSA Compliant
Primary path: operates under the FMCSA HOS "Yard Move" exemption for on-site and short-radius operations. No additional compliance burden for participating facilities or carriers.
Trailer Fluidity
Pop-Up trailer pools via partnerships with rental, leasing, and manufacturing companies. Carriers without excess equipment can participate immediately.
Two Paths to Compliance
Our core service (dock switches, trailer staging, short-radius repositioning) operates under the FMCSA HOS "Yard Move" classification. No brokerage authority required. No additional compliance for facilities or carriers. This is the path we're on today.
If regulatory interpretation shifts, we obtain MC brokerage authority. This unlocks the full local P&D and relay service model under established FMCSA frameworks. The key risk to manage here is the perception of double brokering. Our safeguard: NoDwell is always the first and only intermediary between shipper and carrier. Full chain-of-custody transparency, automated BOL documentation, and real-time load tracking ensure every move is auditable end-to-end. No reposting. No hidden handoffs. Clean freight.
Everyone Optimizes Around the Problem. We Remove It.
Digital Freight (Uber Freight, etc.)
Improve procurement, visibility, tendering. They match linehaul capacity - but don't supply the missing resource: local power to convert live loads into D&H.
YMS & Appointment Tools
Manage congestion and coordination. Decades of optimization with incremental gains because the structural coupling remains.
Asset-Heavy Yard Providers
Effective but require long-term exclusive contracts, dedicated equipment, real estate, and high stable volume. Inaccessible to most.
NoDwell's Differentiation
Mechanism: Democratized D&H via shared local power
Unit of value: Minutes of motion & time certainty
Deployment: Anchor facilities → network expansion
All of the above are potential acquisition partners.
Notably Uber Freight and Lazer Spot (700+ locations) - both operating in adjacent spaces and actively expanding into NoDwell's territory.
Interactive Investment Model
Drag any slider. Every number updates live.
Excluded (conservative upside): Marketplace brokerage • Warehousing revenue • Truck parking revenue • Driver staffing • Fleet services • YMS/TMS/AI software licensing
Start With the Exit
Tell us where you want to end up. We'll move the sliders to show what it takes.
Where Every Dollar Goes
Dev-heavy early. Sales-heavy later. Development spend shifts ~3%/quarter toward Sales & Marketing as the platform matures.
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q5 | Q6 | Q7 | Q8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Startup Expenses | 10% | 10% | 5% | 5% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 1% |
| Recruiting | 15% | 15% | 10% | 10% | 7% | 5% | 4% | 3% |
| Development | 20% | 25% | 35% | 40% | 37% | 34% | 31% | 28% |
| Sales & Marketing | 5% | 10% | 10% | 15% | 18% | 21% | 24% | 27% |
| Client Onboarding | 15% | 25% | 30% | 20% | 25% | 28% | 30% | 31% |
| Leadership | 15% | Absorbed into Dev + Admin after Q1 | ||||||
| Consulting & Variance | 20% | 15% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% |
Development Headcount
6 founding engineers Q1. Full 14-person team by Q3. AI efficiency reduces headcount starting Q5.
Sales & BD Headcount
3 leaders Q1 building playbook. Doubles Q2. 30 by Q7.
Value-Added Revenue Streams
The calculator above only models core yard and city trucking revenue. These six additional revenue streams are real, operational, and growing - but excluded from the numbers to keep the model conservative.
Load brokerage on NoDwell network. 60% margin. Scales with fleet size.
Restacks, cross-docks, transloads. 70% margin. Already operating today.
Outside revenue on fleet staging lots. 80%+ margin. Turns off as fleet fills.
CDL training pipeline & temp-to-hire staffing. Solves client churn risk. High-margin placement fees.
Fuel cards, maintenance scheduling, tire programs. Captive fleet = captive spend. 15-20% margin on pass-through.
Custom yard management, dispatch automation, and agentic AI software licensed to clients. 90%+ margin SaaS.
Revenue Per Rep - KPI Framework
Each rep measured on a 3-12 truck annual quota. Every truck placed = one anchor site generating $500K/year.
Revenue-to-Comp Ratio: 23:1 at target
Each rep places 8 trucks per year at quota. Each truck placement creates one anchor site generating $500K/year in platform revenue. That is $4.0M in new ARR per rep against ~$170K OTE compensation = 23:1 return. The $100K bonus at 12 placements is self-funding - it costs us $100K to generate an additional $2M in ARR. That is a trade we make every single time.
Compounding Growth at Scale
PE hold cycles typically run 3-7 years. Here's what the model projects at the current investment level.
Projections based on $500K gross / ~$125K net profit per site (25% margin), sublinear scaling, and 6-10x ARR valuation multiples consistent with logistics SaaS+ platforms.
Revenue Curve: Now Through Year 7
M&A: The Fastest Path to Market Density
The $24M builds the engine. Strategic acquisitions are the turbo.
Buying an existing yard management operator in a target metro delivers Day 1 revenue, established contracts, and instant market entry with zero ramp time. A $500K-$2M tuck-in acquisition eliminates a competitor and adds network density simultaneously.
We view M&A as a partnership conversation, not a fixed line item. Whether funded through an expanded deployment, a separate acquisition facility, or deal-by-deal co-investment, strategic acquisitions can compress the growth timeline by 12-18 months per market.
What the Platform Does
NoDwell doesn't replace existing systems. It connects them. Every carrier, shipper, and facility already runs their own stack. We plug directly into what's there and coordinate the one thing none of them can do alone: local truck power on demand.
Zero rip-and-replace. We connect to what's already running.
Carriers keep their TMS. Facilities keep their WMS. Drivers keep their ELD. NoDwell reads appointment data, truck positions, and facility schedules through standard API connections and webhook listeners. We don't ask anyone to change their workflow - we operate through the software they already use. The only new interface is the NoDwell driver app for our own fleet.
Don't have a TMS or YMS? Most don't. We provide both as part of the platform.
The large carriers and shippers have McLeod, SAP, Manhattan Associates. But the vast majority of mid-market facilities, regional carriers, and independent warehouses manage their yards with spreadsheets, whiteboards, and phone calls. They don't have a system for us to connect to - so we give them one.
NoDwell's platform includes a lightweight TMS module for carriers who need dispatch and load tracking, and a YMS module for facilities that need yard visibility and trailer management. These aren't afterthoughts - they're core to the platform. When a client uses our TMS or YMS, we capture 100% of the operational data from Day 1, our integration is seamless (because it's the same system), and switching costs go up dramatically.
What We Build - Module by Module
Five core modules. Each one solves a specific coordination problem that doesn't have a solution today.
Build order: Engine first. UI second.
The first thing we build is the operational layer: system interop, dispatch logic, GPS coordination, billing automation, and data pipelines. Enterprise-grade connections to TMS, ELD, WMS, and telematics systems - however they connect. Minimal UI. The engine has to work before anything else matters. Once the operational backbone is proven and processing real moves, we layer on the driver app, facility connections, and client-facing interfaces. This is how you build infrastructure that scales - plumbing first, paint second.
Every Site We Deploy Makes the Platform Smarter
Operational Intelligence
- Arrival patterns: When trucks actually show up vs. appointment time
- Dwell duration: How long each facility type takes, by commodity
- Demand curves: Peak hours, seasonal shifts, surge windows
- Driver performance: Move times, utilization rates, reliability scores
Why This Data Compounds
- Pricing optimization: Real cost-per-move data replaces guessing
- Demand prediction: Pre-position trucks before requests come in
- Network effects: More sites = better routing = faster response
- Competitive moat: This data doesn't exist anywhere else in the industry
No one in trucking has this dataset. Load boards know freight prices. ELD companies know HOS compliance. TMS platforms know dispatch. But nobody is collecting operational dwell data, local truck utilization patterns, and facility-level demand curves at the site level. NoDwell will own that dataset from Day 1.
Fewer Engineers. Higher Caliber. 10x Output.
- Tobi Lutke, CEO of Shopify (April 2025 internal memo, later published publicly)
This isn't a fringe idea. It's the operating standard at a $100B+ public company. Shopify didn't freeze hiring - they raised the bar. Every role must prove it can't be replaced by AI tooling first. The result: smaller teams producing at the same or higher velocity, with dramatically lower burn.
We are building NoDwell with this exact philosophy. Pay fewer people more money. Equip them with the best AI tooling available. Expect 10x output per head.
| Traditional SaaS Build it the old way |
NoDwell AI-augmented, senior-heavy |
|
|---|---|---|
| Engineering headcount (Year 1) | 60-80 | 14 |
| Average comp per engineer | $150K | $357K avg |
| Total engineering payroll (Year 1) | $9M-$12M | $5.0M |
| AI tooling cost per engineer/year | $2K-$5K | $10K-$20K |
| Total AI tooling budget | $200K | $200K |
| Mgmt overhead (managers, PMs, QA) | 15-25 additional hires | 3-5 (VP Eng + leads) |
| Office, HR, recruiting, benefits burden | $2M-$3M | $600K |
| All-in Year 1 engineering cost | $12M-$16M | ~$6M |
| Effective output per dollar | 1x (baseline) | 2-3x |
Traditional estimates based on industry average for Series A/B logistics SaaS companies building marketplace + mobile + dispatch platforms. NoDwell estimates based on actual AI-augmented development costs observed in current operations. Tooling includes Antigravity, Claude Pro/Team, GPT, Gemini via Google Workspace, plus GPU compute for internal agents.
Why a hybrid team at $357K average works when $150K doesn't:
We hire two tiers: 6 senior architects at $500K who bring their own AI agents and agentic workflows, and 8 AI-native builders at $250K who've never shipped code without AI assistance. We only hire people who bring agents with them - AI fluency is the new baseline, not a bonus. The $500K engineers don't type faster - they think better, catch problems earlier, and manage agentic workflows that produce the output of 3-5 traditional developers. The $250K engineers are the next generation: fast, AI-native, and productive from day one with the right tooling and architecture leadership above them.
The other reason $150K doesn't work: hyperscaling. We're going from 4 trucks in 3 metros to 200 trucks across 20 metros in 36 months. That's not incremental feature development - it's building systems that handle 50x load growth, multi-region data pipelines, real-time GPS coordination across hundreds of concurrent operations, and interop with dozens of different TMS/ELD/WMS platforms simultaneously. $150K engineers build features. $500K engineers build systems that don't break when you 50x the traffic overnight.
Where AI Shows Up - Specifically
In the Build Process
- Code generation: Antigravity, Claude, GPT, and Gemini for 80%+ of initial code output. Engineers review, refine, and architect.
- Testing: AI-generated test suites, edge case discovery, regression detection
- Documentation: Auto-generated API docs, architecture diagrams, onboarding guides
- DevOps agents: Automated deployment, monitoring, incident response
This portal, the pitch deck, and the financial engine you're using right now were all built with AI-augmented development. We're not theorizing. We're doing it.
In the Product Itself
- Dispatch AI: Automated truck-to-task matching using GPS proximity, driver availability, and facility priority
- Demand prediction: Forecast site needs 24-48 hours ahead using arrival patterns
- Support automation: AI agents handle check calls, status updates, and driver coordination
- Pricing engine: Dynamic rate optimization based on utilization, urgency, and time-of-day
We already operate an AI agent that automates check calls across our existing trucking fleet. It runs 24/7 on our DGX Spark server. This isn't a roadmap item - it's in production.
Build Big, Then Let AI Optimize
Year 1: full team ships the platform. Years 2-3: AI tools absorb routine work, team shrinks while velocity holds.
Real Numbers, Real Architecture
All pricing based on current AWS on-demand rates in us-east-1. Savings Plans and Reserved Instances will reduce costs 30-50% at commitment.
| Service | Instance / Tier | Unit Cost | Monthly Est. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compute (EC2) | c6i.xlarge (4 vCPU, 8 GB) x 6 instances | $0.17/hr | $7,400 |
| Database (RDS) | db.r6g.xlarge PostgreSQL, Multi-AZ | $0.48/hr | $3,500 |
| AI/ML Training | p3.2xlarge (V100 GPU) on-demand bursts | $3.06/hr | $5,500 |
| AI/ML Inference | g4dn.xlarge (T4 GPU) x 2 instances | $0.526/hr | $3,800 |
| Storage (S3) | Standard tier, ~10 TB growing | $0.023/GB | $1,200 |
| CDN (CloudFront) | Global edge distribution | $0.085/GB | $1,800 |
| Monitoring & Security | CloudWatch, GuardDuty, WAF, Secrets Manager | Bundled | $2,200 |
| DevOps / CI-CD | ECR, ECS Fargate, CodePipeline | Bundled | $1,800 |
| Third-Party APIs | Mapping, geocoding, ELD integrations | Variable | $3,000 |
| Total Monthly Cloud | ~$30,200 |
Annual estimate: ~$362K at initial scale. Remaining $188K of the $550K cloud budget covers infrastructure setup, migration tooling, load testing, and scaling headroom as metros come online. At full 5-metro scale, monthly costs approach ~$45K/mo.
Built to Recruit
The talent market has shifted in our favor. We have the runway, the concept, and the connections to build a world-class team fast.
Blake Lappan
Founder & CEO
- 22 years in freight logistics - driver, dispatcher, fleet manager, owner-operator, technology builder
- Founded Spot-On TMS - a trucking management platform serving small carriers
- Personally experienced the slack time problem from every seat in the operation
- Built NoDwell's MVP and investor platform using AI-augmented development - proving the efficiency thesis in practice
- Designed and deployed multiple production agentic AI systems - autonomous dispatch agents, check-call automation, and GPS-verified operational workflows running in production today
Why We Win the Talent War
Market Timing + Industry Access
- Favorable job market: The supply chain tech sector has seen significant layoffs in 2024-2026. Exceptional talent is available and looking for the right opportunity
- More coming: Industry consolidation continues to release experienced operators and engineers. Our pipeline deepens every month
- Real mission: We're solving a problem that anyone who's touched a loading dock understands. That resonates with supply chain professionals in ways another SaaS startup can't
- $24M runway: Competitive comp, equity upside, and 24 months of funded runway signals stability that early-stage rarely offers
Amol Mehta
Technical Co-Founder
- Advisor for NoDwell since 2024
- Decades of development experience across full-stack platforms and systems architecture
- Relevant experience: Lead Developer on the Bunjii team, a logistics platform very similar to NoDwell but for a different niche - on-demand sprinter vans for parcel delivery overflow via an app
Three Pipelines, Dozens of Candidates Per Role
We don't need to compete with FAANG for generic engineers. We need supply chain operators who understand freight, logistics engineers who've built TMS systems, and sales leaders who've sold into warehouses. Those people are in our network.
Niche Recruiters
Two specialized firms: one focused on supply chain operations (fleet managers, yard ops, facility coordinators) and one focused on logistics technology (engineers from Uber Freight, Convoy, Baton, Flexport, Lazer Logistics, YMX, National Shunt, etc.). We're only hiring developers who've already built in this space - not training generic engineers on freight.
Industry Network
22 years of relationships across carriers, 3PLs, brokerages, and technology vendors. Dozens of warm connections per position. When we post a role, the phone rings before the listing goes live.
Market Opportunity
Talented people want to build something that matters with a team that has real industry experience. We offer equity, funded runway, and a founder who has operated every role in the business.
Phased Executive Hiring
Scaling from 4 trucks to 200 across 20 metros in 36 months requires a different operating structure than what got us here. The founder transitions to Founder & Chairman from day one - focused on vision, strategic partnerships, and industry relationships that only 22 years of freight experience can unlock. At this pace of growth, that perspective needs to stay ahead of the business, not inside it. Professional operators run day-to-day execution. Hires are phased to match the build cadence.
Founder & Chairman - Blake Lappan
22 years of freight operations. Three companies built. At the scale we're targeting - 75 trucks in Year 2, 200 by Year 3 - execution speed requires a professional C-suite operating without bottlenecks. This structure puts the founder where he creates the most value: casting the vision, protecting the mission, and leveraging 15 years of industry relationships to open doors that cold outreach never will. That said, the founder is equally prepared to serve as CEO directly, preserving that executive budget for additional operational hires if the board determines that's the highest-ROI path.
Executive & Founder Compensation
CEO, CFO, VP of Engineering, CCO, and VP-level comp is funded from the Leadership line within the Consulting & Variance allocation (20% Q1 → 10% ongoing). Founder receives a consulting fee from the same allocation, covering strategic advisory, industry access, and board duties. Total executive comp is budgeted at ~$2.5M/year across all leadership positions, separate from the $5M engineering budget.
Fleet Staging, Warehousing & Revenue Hedge
Every site combines ample truck parking with a smaller warehouse building for cross-dock, restack, and transload operations. We target properties with both yard space and warehouse infrastructure - via acquisition, lease, or ground-up build. Outside truck parking at $13/truck/day fills empty spots today and gets turned off as our own fleet absorbs the capacity.
How this works in practice
Day one: 80-space lot, 4 NoDwell trucks staged, 28 outside trucks paying $13/night = $133K/yr hedge revenue. Year two: 20 NoDwell trucks staged, 12 outside trucks = $57K/yr hedge. Year three: 40+ NoDwell trucks, outside parking turned off or reduced to weekend-only. The lot pays for itself either way - through client service fees or outside revenue or both.
Scenario A: Standard Site
80 spaces • 3,000 SF warehouse • 3 acres • M1 Industrial Zoned
BUILD COSTS
| Land (2.5 ac @ $75-120K/ac) | $188K-$300K |
| Grading & drainage | $60K-$80K |
| Gravel surface (~85K SF) | $106K-$153K |
| Commercial fencing (~1,320 LF) | $24K-$29K |
| Electronic gate + app access | $18K-$25K |
| LED area lighting (12 poles) | $48K-$58K |
| Security cameras + NVR | $14K-$18K |
| Permits, engineering, survey | $10K-$14K |
| Warehouse building (3,000 SF metal) | $120K-$180K |
| Total Build | $590K-$860K |
REVENUE MODEL
| Total spaces | 80 |
| Avg daily occupancy | 40% (32 trucks) |
| Rate per truck/day | $13 |
| Daily revenue | $416 |
| Annual revenue | $151,840 |
| Payback period | 3.0-4.5 years |
Primary use: NoDwell fleet staging and drop-and-hook ops. Outside revenue via TruckPark apps is the hedge - scales down as our trucks fill the lot.
Scenario B: Large Site
120 spaces • 5,000 SF warehouse • ~5 acres • M1 Industrial Zoned
BUILD COSTS
| Land (4 ac @ $75-120K/ac) | $300K-$480K |
| Grading & drainage | $75K-$105K |
| Gravel surface (~140K SF) | $175K-$252K |
| Commercial fencing (~1,660 LF) | $30K-$37K |
| Electronic gate + app access | $22K-$30K |
| LED area lighting (16 poles) | $72K-$86K |
| Security cameras + NVR | $18K-$24K |
| Permits, engineering, survey | $12K-$16K |
| Warehouse building (5,000 SF metal) | $180K-$275K |
| Total Build | $884K-$1.31M |
REVENUE MODEL
| Total spaces | 120 |
| Avg daily occupancy | 40% (48 trucks) |
| Rate per truck/day | $13 |
| Daily revenue | $624 |
| Annual revenue | $227,760 |
| Payback period | 3.1-4.5 years |
Larger capacity supports fleet growth longer before outside parking gets turned off. Dedicated NoDwell staging zone from day one.
Scenario C: Bridge Partnership
Client’s existing open space • Minimal buildout • Revenue share
BUILD COSTS
| Fencing section / partition | $10K-$16K |
| App-integrated gate access | $14K-$20K |
| LED lighting upgrade (5 poles) | $22K-$30K |
| Camera system | $8K-$12K |
| Surface improvement (if needed) | $20K-$40K |
| Permits & setup | $5K-$8K |
| Total Build | $79K-$126K |
VALUE PROPOSITION
NoDwell clients with underutilized yard or lot space get immediate revenue from their idle real estate. We handle the buildout, the app integration, and the truck flow. They collect monthly checks from space that was generating $0.
| Gross revenue (40 spaces) | $76K/yr |
| Client share (40%) | $30K/yr |
| NoDwell share (60%) | $46K/yr |
Client gets revenue from previously unused space. NoDwell gets capacity without buying land. Win-win market entry.
Land values based on 2025-2026 KC metro M1 industrial lot comparables. Self-funded by silo operating cash flow, quarterly over 12-18 months.
How We Got Here
Started from nothing. Built it to $4.2M - 3,130% growth in 3 years. Lost it. Started over from zero. Built it again to $5.5M in 5 years. Now building the third.
What I Didn’t Know
The first company could have been 5x its size with the right capital partner. Instead of raising, I bootstrapped - because I didn’t know raising was something I had access to. That was a limited belief I gave myself without knowing it.
I Won’t Make That Mistake Twice
Now I understand what a dollar can become when deployed strategically. The first bankable loan felt like the key to the world. Now I know: the right capital partner doesn’t just fund - they turn one dollar into four. And they do it alongside you, not instead of you.
That’s what this $24M partnership represents.
What Drives Me
Day to Day
- Solving human-level problems at their source
- Giving. All kinds.
- Making an impact - not in my name, but in the name of the impact
- Growing others through culture and leadership
For Others
Supporting causes that help young underprivileged children know they have the same opportunities as everyone else
Business investing - angel and beyond. Enabling innovators the way I wish someone had enabled me earlier.
For Me
Generational wealth creation
Maximize on-earth experiences
Owning and driving fast cars on race tracks
Why This Round Exists
Someone told me to start putting myself in rooms where people are doing more. That advice changed everything.
We pitched the concept. A lead investor committed $48M within weeks. Not because of a slide deck - because they saw a founder who built the same business twice, understands the problem from every seat in the operation, and has a plan that scales.
Now we are closing the final $6M of the round with strategic and angel investors who want to be part of what comes next.
What’s Already in Motion
Enterprise Validation
A Fortune 500 client - one of the largest private companies on the planet - has been with us for over a decade. They followed from the first company to the second. That’s not a contract. That’s trust.
Doors Already Open
Multiple facilities have invited us to visit their sites. The only thing they haven’t said is “yes.” What they actually said is: “You’re not big enough yet.” The $24M changes that overnight.
Cards on the Table
We have divisions within Spot-On that are profitable and growing. We also have one that’s bleeding - and we know exactly why. An investor partner won’t have to tell us what to fix. We already know. What we need is the capital to stop patching and start building.
We’re not hiding financials or dressing up numbers. Ask for our P&Ls. Ask for the hard questions. That’s exactly the kind of partnership we want - one where transparency is the starting point, not the negotiating tactic.
“When things are bad, be real about it always.”
That’s how every relationship in this company has been built - and it’s how this one will be too.
The $56M Raise
90% verbally committed. Currently in due diligence. Final $6M open to strategic and angel investors.
What This Round Looks Like
Why this structure works for you.
The lead investor's $48M commitment de-risks the entire round. You are not betting on whether the company gets funded - that question is answered. The remaining $6M is reserved for investors who bring strategic value: industry connections, operational expertise, or regional distribution. This is a seat at a table that is already set.
Who We Want at the Table
Early Believers ($1-2M)
Local angels and early supporters who had our back before anyone else did. This is their opportunity to participate in a round they helped make possible. Loyalty matters here.
Smart Money ($4-5M)
Industry investors who told us to come back when we had more traction. We have a $48M lead, a live operation, and a platform in production. The traction is here. Don't miss the close.