Startup profile: GenLogs
- Founded by: Ryan Joyce, Joe Sherman and Blake Balch
- Year founded: 2023
- Headquarters: Arlington, VA
- Sector: Transportation, logistics
- Funding and valuation: $6 million seed and $14.6 Series A; valuation undisclosed
Millions of packages are stolen or lost every year, something that comes into sharp focus during the holiday shipping rush. An Arlington startup is piloting tech to help prevent those mishaps, and help catch bad actors, too.
Founded in 2023, GenLogs uses sensors and computer vision to track truck routes and activity on interstates and highways, said cofounder and CEO Ryan Joyce. That data is used to identify lost cargo, plus to match companies and shippers to transport goods.
Helping firms involved in transportation logistics flag and investigate stolen goods is a major demand this time of year.
Package theft, directly off trucks and at people’s doorsteps, is a major issue in the US: 58 million deliveries were stolen last year.
“We’re busy,” Joyce told Technical.ly. “[Mid-December] was one of our busiest weeks when it came just to fraud and theft that we’re investigating.”
Package theft, directly off trucks and at people’s doorsteps, is a major issue in the US — 58 million deliveries were stolen in 2024, resulting in $16 billion in financial losses, according to the USPS Office of Inspector General . Joyce, a former CIA case officer, likened tracking cargo to work he did validating tips and sources at the intelligence agency.
Trucking can be a fragmented industry, he said, and there’s not much streamlined guidance about which transportation companies are the right fit for various shipping needs, whether it’s a manufacturer with a regular supply chain or a production company seeking a one-time freight drop-off. That’s where GenLogs comes in.
“If you all of a sudden needed to move a load from Arlington to Chicago, there’s really no white pages to find,” Joyce said. “We use our data to find who you should reach out to to get that done.”
Beyond the shippers and the cargo transporters, GenLogs also works with insurance companies, logistics firms and the government, he said. GenLogs has about 100 enterprise-level clients, including trucking company Werner Enterprises and freight broker Flock Freight.
15 million truck photos a day
GenLogs sensors have three camera heads and are located along major roads, Joyce said, chosen because they’re areas with the heaviest volumes of activity. The company often negotiates to locate them on private property, offering a monthly payment for using the land. Joyce declined to share how many cameras are active across the country.
Each camera is set to capture the front, side and back of trucks as they traverse the road. GenLogs’ cameras collect 15 million images every day, per Joyce, contributing to the company’s 3 billion–image repository.
Video surveillance has increased in recent years, and with the help of AI analysis, has become more sophisticated — especially in how it’s used by law enforcement, which has received pushback from civil rights groups. People and businesses have also installed their own security cameras, making them a part of everyday life, and oftentimes police can gain access to these systems.
Privacy is a priority, Joyce said, so if GenLogs’ sensors capture people’s faces, they are blurred.
The startup’s AI computer vision tech is trained to delete images of other vehicles too, per Joyce. Raw photos are uploaded to the GenLogs platform, where AI is also used to extract data like the truck’s license plate, vehicle identification number and logos so customers can track its activity.
Beyond cargo, this technology has been translated to other needs. GenLogs, which has a built-in connection to law enforcement thanks to Joyce’s CIA background, has been providing services to police, helping find trucks used for sex trafficking and transporting narcotics. It also flagged a truck allegedly involved in a fatal hit-and-run in Wyoming, he said.
So far, the law enforcement services have been offered on a one-off basis, but GenLogs is in the process of setting up formal contracts for data sharing.
“At the end of the day,” Joyce said, “we’re trying to make our world safer and stronger by having more efficient supply chains and keeping all the bad actors out.”
