Startup Spotlight: How Estonia-Born BaseTrack Is Introducing Its Automated Trucking Services In The UAE The BaseTrack team's ultimate goal is to ensure a transition from human-driven trucks to fully automated fleets that can be managed remotely and with reduced CO2 emissions.
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This article is part of an ongoing series covering startups that have been a part of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund (MBRIF) accelerator program.
Anyone who has frequented the roads of the UAE—or any nation for that matter—must have noticed how puffs of gray or black smoke often linger in the air long after it has come out of a gigantic truck. But did you know that although heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and buses make up less than 8% of vehicles (excluding two- and three-wheelers) globally, they are responsible for more than 35% of direct carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from road transport?
That statistic is as per a 2023 report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based organization that works with governments and industry stakeholders to offer policy recommendations and analysis on the global energy sector. The same IEA report highlights how stringent carbon emission policies are required to decarbonize the trucks industry—a mission that aligns well with that of Estonia-headquartered startup BaseTrack, which offers fuel economy solutions and transport management systems that can help trucking companies reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
"We make the trucking industry more efficient and safe by improving the [work of] the drivers behind the wheel," explains Ilya Klyuev, co-founder and Chief Development Officer of BaseTrack. "Trucks are very important, and they offer a big market with many opportunities—over 70% of goods are moved by trucks in the US alone, as per a study by the American Trucking Association. But these vehicles are not safe, and they emit a lot of CO2. So, we found a way to improve it for a better future, giving trucking companies not just sustainability, but also financial benefits. BaseTrack offers fuel economy solutions and a comprehensive transport management system to make human-driven trucks fleet more efficient."
Founded in 2019, this startup offers what it calls the BaseTrack Smart Freight (BaseTrack SF) solution, which offers real-time driving recommendations and efficient cruise-control calculations using a combination of internal and external parameters such as temperature/weather and road conditions. For example, using digital maps of roads, the BaseTrack SF tool, which is a device integrated into the truck's system with a screen for the driver to monitor, will show optimal speed (i.e whether the driver needs to speed up or slow down on a given road) using easy color prompts which can be easily understood by the driver without focusing too much on the screen. The software also takes into account factors such as a given truck's load and engine characteristics, and using this, the BaseTrack SF solution offers the driver suggestions on how to optimally drive trucks in a way that ensures sustainable fuel consumption while simultaneously ensuring logistics-related requirements are adhered to. "Our products make drivers more efficient, and eventually reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of our customers' fleets," Klyuev adds. "We provide it as a service and charge clients a monthly or annual fee. For clients, the system pays off within a couple of months!"
But the BaseTrack SF solution isn't the startup's only endeavor in trying to address the issue of carbon emissions in the trucking industry. You see, the technology used in this particular device is actually a simpler version of what is used for BaseTrack's long-term goal: autonomous truck services. Indeed, Klyuev and his team's ultimate goal is to ensure a transition from human-driven trucks to fully automated fleets that can be managed remotely and with reduced CO2 emissions.
"We are already the leading provider in multiple regions, and our automated trucks have actually delivered commercial goods on public roads," Klyuev reveals. "But the business model topic is yet quite tricky, as we are still working on the regulations for autonomous trucking and hope to figure out how the future of trucking will look. Right now, we own our own autonomous trucks, and provide those to customers (shippers) as a traditional subcontractor (i.e. a transport company), but we are working with our partners and the government to shape the sustainable future trucking ecosystem. In the UAE, we have already performed public autonomous trucking demonstrations and test drives for clients in areas such as Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone, Dubai South, and even in some parts of the desert."
Now, although BaseTrack's enthusiasm for an automated trucking industry is a major driving factor for the enterprise, its vision remains quite grounded in reality. For starters, the startup's official website itself mentions that now is "not the time for autonomous driving." To get to that final destination, Klyuev believes that BaseTrack SF is the perfect tool to induce a gradual transition. "You see, the same technology that is capable of providing partial or full automation of trucks is currently being used to focus on safety and efficiency," Klyuev explains. "To provide fuel economy solutions, we use a simplified version of our advanced autonomous trucking technology, so we actually slowly prepare the industry for a transition to autonomous trucks." And while it may be easy to conflate the negation of human-driven trucks with a removal of jobs, Klyuev assures that that is far from the case. "Our end users right now are drivers—we constantly interact with them, and exchange experiences," he explains. "There is no autonomous driving without adopting the human-driving experience. We thus aim to act as a bridge that will transform regular drivers to remote operators, and then maybe to autonomous fleet managers."
Upon the observation that "the UAE has great potential for technology startups like ours," BaseTrack moved not only its core team, but also its research and development (R&D) facilities to the UAE in 2023. According to Klyuev, it has been the BaseTrack team's initial successful run in Europe—which includes a year-long "hobby phase" from 2017-18 where they put their collective geoinformatics experience to create their own autonomous car—that has brought about the company's confidence to scale into the UAE and the wider Middle East. This wealth of experience within its core team has also ensured that, so far, BaseTrack delivers a one-of-its-kind solution to the region. "We provide the most efficient eco-driving solution on the European market in terms of fuel efficiency, and it fits mixed fleets or older trucks as an aftermarket solution, which is unique," Klyuev says. "Generally, our technology was the first all-weather autonomous driving technology, we demonstrated it back in 2017, when it was just our hobby, and still, we are the only company that operated in harsh weather conditions (heavy rains, snow, ice, desert). In the GCC, we are also the first company invited to make an autonomous trucking demonstration on public roads. And so, in the UAE, we don't have competitors yet."
But all of this hasn't meant that it has been a hurdle-free ride for BaseTrack in the UAE. "Some of the challenges in the UAE are related to the process of opening bank accounts, setting up the office (due to bureaucracy, and excessive unexpected fees at every stage in our case), and getting a local driving license (as usually you can't use your national one)," Klyuev says. "We also saw that the venture capitalists are yet not ready to invest in the long-term; every investor is looking for short-term returns, and wishes to invest in software/software as a service (SaaS) or B2C solutions that are already generating revenues. Nevertheless, the UAE has business-friendly tax policy, access to funding, and a bright vision for the future and innovations." Indeed, one UAE-based program that has shown interest in BaseTrack's long-term goals is the MBRIF Innovation Accelerator. "It seems generally known among startups in the UAE that MBRIF is the best place for startups to grow in the country (and even outside), as they provide great support, and the program is offered at no cost for startups," Klyuev says. "The MBRIF program is supported by the government, the team has leverage to connect startups with the best mentors or partners, and the amount of knowledge and connections is truly impressive. As we already started to participate and receive the perks of the program, we have only positive feedback!"
Having already raised US$3 million in funds so far, the company is now looking to raise a further $5.4 million. But as BaseTrack sets out on the next leg of its journey, Klyuev emphasizes that the team will aim to achieve its dreams of an automated trucking industry while maintaining a realistic approach. "Our company has always been focusing on efficiency, and kept the headcount under 25 employees," Klyuev says. "Nevertheless, our ambitions and technical advantage helped us to lead in the field of all-weather autonomous driving, and later, autonomous trucking. The company, in contrast to the US-based moonshots, diversified its product offering, and commercialized both short-term and long-term products. With that, we are confident that we can become a unicorn within a few years."
