Radar · Transportation and Logistics in Chicago
Best Transportation and Logistics Companies in Chicago, United States
The 96 best Transportation and Logistics companies in Chicago, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: AELF.
By Riya SenguptaFinancials
96companies tracked
$241.4Mdisclosed funding
0unicorns
7have raised
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS × CHICAGO
Our analysis of 50 Transportation and Logistics companies
$13.3b in tracked funding; 94% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
50companies analysed
94%cloud-native stacks
2025funding peak (by rounds)
1996median founding year
57median Fliar Index™
1.4Mcombined LinkedIn audience
96%of audience held by top 3
3companies hiring publicly (12 mo)
Ranked: Best Transportation and Logistics companies in Chicago
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AELF Provider of aircraft and engine leasing and trading services 21Funding top 24%Talent bottom 49%Tech bottom 40%Global bottom 36% All 5 signals ▾Fundingtop 24% Talentbottom 49% Techbottom 40% Globalbottom 36% Marketbottom 16% Funding: Raised $126M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 2 yrs (1.5/yr) Talent: 1 named leader on record · 1 C-suite/founder profile curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 21/100 | $126M | 11 mo ago | Funding Raised | Haobo Ma Founder & CEO | 2015 | WebflowGSAPMicrosoft 365+7 | — |
| 2 | Residco Provider of leasing and financial solutions for aviation and rail assets 50Innovation top 20%Funding top 24%Product top 32%Talent top 38% All 7 signals ▾Innovationtop 20% Fundingtop 24% Producttop 32% Talenttop 38% Techbottom 49% Globalbottom 33% Marketbottom 14% Innovation: 4 product lines Funding: Raised $100M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 50/100 | $100M | 0 mo ago | Funding Raised | Vincent Kolber Founder&Owner | 1982 | WordPressMySQLPHP+22 | 1 expansion |
| 3 | Vertiport Chicago Operator of charted flights | $13M | 154 mo ago | Seed | Anthony Pontarelli CEO | 2012 | Cart FunctionalitySquarespace CommerceSquarespace+14 | — |
| 4 | Tusk Logistics Provider of online listing platform, shipping, and logistic services 21Talent top 38%Growth top 45%Tech top 46%Funding bottom 40% All 9 signals ▾Talenttop 38% Growthtop 45% Techtop 46% Fundingbottom 40% Productbottom 39% Globalbottom 29% Innovationbottom 24% Marketbottom 19% Newsbottom 18% Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 21/100 | $2M | 40 mo ago | Seed | Adam Hipp Co-Founder | 2021 | WebflowAmazon Web Servicescore-js+16 | 1 internship |
| 5 | Resource Shipping Offers ship based logistics, freight management and finance services | $700K | 148 mo ago | Seed | — | 2009 | — | — |
| 6 | Anacostia Rail Holdings | $53K | 201 mo ago | Funding Raised | — | 1996 | WordPress Block EditorWordPressMySQL+17 | 1 award |
| 7 | JSSI Provider of aircraft leasing, supply chain management, and financial advisory services | — | 43 mo ago | Acquired | — | 1989 | WordPressMySQLPHP+26 | 1 internship |
| 8 | OTR Transportation Provider of freight transportation services | — | 45 mo ago | Seed | Patrick Kenny Owner | 2015 | WordPressMySQLRedis+22 | 6 job openings |
| 9 | United Airlines Airlines company | — | 115 mo ago | Public | Scott Kirby CEO | 1926 | Apple iCloud MailReactPrebid+27 | — |
Top 10 Transportation and Logistics companies in Chicago
#1
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1982 · 21 employees$100Mraised▾
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1982 · 21 employees
Provider of leasing and financial solutions for aviation and rail assets. The company invests in commercial and corporate aircraft, engines, freight cars, and locomotives. Structuring expertise combined with an extensive network of relationships with financial institutions allows new entrants to benefit from experience in joint ventures and structured debt. The company also manages large pools of freight cars, locomotives, and aircraft for other lessors and joint venture partners. Additionally, residual support and derivative structures are provided for the benefit of other investors.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 50how this company ranks against its industry peers
Innovation
top 20%Funding
top 24%Product
top 32%Talent
top 38%Tech
bottom 49%Global
bottom 33%Innovation: 4 product lines
Funding: Raised $100M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) · Last round Conventional Debt (May 2026)
Product: 4 distinct product lines · Company stage: Conventional Debt
Audience (LinkedIn): 1k LinkedIn followers
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 awards · 1 expansions announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Jan 2026Conventional Debt$100M
Founders & team
Investors
Huntington National Bank, Fifth Third Bank
Tech stack
WordpressMysqlPhpYoast Seo PremiumNginxCloudflare
#2
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2015$126Mraised▾
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2015
Provider of aircraft and engine leasing and trading services. This company specializes in mid-to-end-of-life assets, offering customized leasing solutions to meet diverse client needs. These solutions include operating leases, stub leases, power-by-the-hour agreements, sale and leasebacks, and finance leases. The company leverages extensive experience and creative approaches to build long-term relationships with its clients. They also facilitate the sale of surplus aircraft and engine parts.
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 21how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 24%Talent
bottom 49%Tech
bottom 40%Global
bottom 36%Market
bottom 16%Funding: Raised $126M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 2 yrs (1.5/yr) · Last round Conventional Debt (Jul 2025)
Talent: 1 named leader on record · 1 C-suite/founder profile curated
Tech: 10 technologies across 4/8 capability areas · Cloud: Cloudflare · Security: Hsts, Http/3
Audience (LinkedIn): 5k LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
- Jul 2025Conventional Debt$31M
- Jun 2025Conventional Debt$55M
- May 2024Conventional Debt$40M
Founders & team
Investors
Merchants Bank, Absa Group
Tech stack
CdnjsCloudflareGoogle AnalyticsGsapHstsHttp/3
#3
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2012$13Mraised▾
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2012
Operator of charted flights
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 909 LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
- Jul 2013Seed$13M
Founders & team
Tech stack
AngularCart FunctionalityCore-JsGoogle AnalyticsHstsMicrosoft 365
#4
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2021 · 7 employees$1.6Mraised▾
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2021 · 7 employees
Provider of online listing platform, shipping, and logistic services
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 21how this company ranks against its industry peers
Talent
top 38%Growth
top 45%Tech
top 46%Funding
bottom 40%Product
bottom 39%Global
bottom 29%Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated
Tech: 28 technologies across 4/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon S3, Amazon Web Services · Security: Cloudflare Bot Management, Hsts
Audience (LinkedIn): 2k LinkedIn followers
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 partnerships (incl. Warehance) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Feb 2023Seed$1.6M
Founders & team
Investors
TitletownTech, Forum Ventures, Fulfillment IQ
Tech stack
Amazon S3Amazon Web ServicesAzureAzure MonitorBlazorBootstrap
#5
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2009$700Kraised▾
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2009
Offers ship based logistics, freight management and finance services
#6
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1996$53.1Kraised▾
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1996
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 2k LinkedIn followers
Activity: 1 awards announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Sep 2009Grant (prize money)$53.1K
Investors
FEMA
Tech stack
AstraCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementFont AwesomeFrescoGoogle Analytics
#7
Acquired · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1989 · 217 employees—raised▾
Acquired · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1989 · 217 employees
Provider of aircraft leasing, supply chain management, and financial advisory services
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 23k LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
- Nov 2022PE—
Investors
Genstar Capital, GTCR, DaGrosa Capital Partners, Hammock Park Capital
Tech stack
AngularAutoptimizeAzureChart.JsCloudflareCloudflare Bot Management
#8
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2015 · 71 employees—raised▾
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2015 · 71 employees
Provider of freight transportation services
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 3k LinkedIn followers
Hiring: 7 hiring posts in 12 mo (public) · momentum +7 · hiring: Carrier Sales, Prescription Analyst
Funding rounds
- Aug 2022Seed—
Founders & team
Investors
CIVC Partners, Maranon Capital
Tech stack
Amazon S3Amazon SesAmazon Web ServicesBackbone.JsCore-JsElementor
#9
Public · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1926 · 103300 employees—raised▾
Public · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1926 · 103300 employees
United Airlines is an airlines company, headquartered in Chicago, USA. Operates via United Airlines and United Express. Claims to operate over 4.5k flights a day to more than 300 airports across five continents.
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 1.3M LinkedIn followers — 91.2% of this cohort's audience
Founders & team
Investors
Omega Advisors
Tech stack
Acquia Cloud PlatformAcquia Cloud Site FactoryAdobe AnalyticsAdobe Experience Platform Identity ServiceAdobe Experience Platform LaunchAkamai
#10
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1891 · 1480 employees—raised▾
Funding Raised · Chicago, Illinois · founded 1891 · 1480 employees
Provider of rail car leasing, repair and manufacturing services
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 21k LinkedIn followers
Investors
FEMA, The Pritzker Organization
Tech stack
Animate.CssApache Http ServerApple Icloud MailBootstrapCloudflareCore-Js
Funding & investor landscape
$241.4Mtotal disclosed funding
6companies funded
7disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Notable founders
Vincent Kolber
Founder&Owner · Residco
Glenn Davis
CEO · Residco
Haobo Ma
Founder & CEO · AELF
Anthony Pontarelli
CEO · Vertiport Chicago
Adam Hipp
Co-Founder · Tusk Logistics
Ben Emmrich
Co-Founder & CEO · Tusk Logistics
Patrick Kenny
Owner · OTR Transportation
Scott Kirby
CEO · United Airlines
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 1,880,697 docs
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Transportation and Logistics coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
Common questions
How many Transportation and Logistics companies are there in Chicago, United States?
Radar tracks 96 indexable Transportation and Logistics companies headquartered in Chicago, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Transportation and Logistics companies in Chicago, United States?
The Transportation and Logistics companies in Chicago, United States on this list have raised a combined $241.4M in disclosed equity funding across 6 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Transportation and Logistics company in Chicago, United States?
AELF is the highest-funded Transportation and Logistics company in Chicago, United States, with $126M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Transportation and Logistics companies in Chicago, United States are funded?
6 of the 96 Transportation and Logistics companies in Chicago, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Transportation and Logistics unicorns are there in Chicago, United States?
None of the Transportation and Logistics companies in Chicago, United States on this list currently has a disclosed valuation of $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in Chicago, United States Transportation and Logistics companies?
The most active investors in Chicago, United States Transportation and Logistics companies on this list include FEMA, Absa Group, CIVC Partners, Camber Partners, Candid Insurance Investors.
Riya SenguptaFinancials
Riya reads income statements for fun. She covers the real money in a sector — revenue, growth, who actually earns — and never met a vague claim she didn't want a number for.