Nirvana, a San Francisco-based startup building an AI-based insurance platform for the trucking industry, has raised $80 million in new funding to expand its services and help truckers navigate the challenges posed by the Trump administration's tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada.

The Series C funding round, led by General Catalyst and participated in by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Valor Equity Partners, values Nirvana at $830 million, more than double its previous valuation of $350 million. According to Nirvana's CEO and co-founder, Rushil Goel, the round was "pre-emptive," raised on the back of inbound interest rather than the startup needing the cash.

The investment comes at a critical time for the trucking industry, which is bracing for the negative impacts of the Trump tariffs. The American Trucking Association has warned that the tariffs will reduce cross-border freight, increase operational costs, and disproportionately affect the 100,000 full-time truckers hauling goods between the US, Canada, and Mexico. The association estimates that the price tag of a new truck could rise by up to $35,000, amounting to a $2 billion annual tax and putting new equipment out of reach for small carriers.

Nirvana's platform uses real-time driving telematics and 20 billion miles of truck driving data to build and manage insurance policies for truckers. The company's growth is coming at the nexus of several trends, including the increasing adoption of technology in the trucking industry and the growing demand for more efficient and cost-effective insurance solutions. Nirvana's total value in premiums under management has doubled in the last year, reaching over $100 million.

The trucking industry is a massive market, with US trucking generating over $900 billion in revenues in 2024 and employing around 8.5 million people. The industry is projected to grow to $1.46 trillion in revenues by 2035, but the Trump tariffs pose a significant threat to this growth. Nirvana is hoping to play a part in helping truckers weather the changes by providing more affordable and efficient insurance solutions.

Nirvana's platform covers insurance for both fleets and non-fleets, and charges on a "pay as you drive" basis that incorporates safety data using telematics from the vehicles and data logged by the FMCSA, the trucking regulator. The company's safety analytics product also forms part of its platform, which includes AI tools that automate and speed up claims processing.

The trucking industry has been a ripe area for tech startups in recent years, with companies like Lula, SmartHop, Fairmatic, and CloudTrucks developing new SaaS-based products to help drivers build out their businesses more efficiently and trucking companies run their fleets more seamlessly. Beyond that, startups are taking ambitious swings at the trucks themselves, working on electric and autonomous vehicles for the next generation of transportation.

Insurance has also been undergoing an evolution, with "insurtech" startups rethinking how to provision insurance for consumers. Nirvana is part of this trend, using big data and AI to rethink how services are priced and provisioned. General Catalyst's CEO, Hemant Taneja, who led the investment round, praised Nirvana's "disruptive model" and its ability to find rich data at scale and build AI around the complex steps of providing commercial insurance.

With this new funding, Nirvana is well-positioned to expand its services and help truckers navigate the challenges posed by the Trump tariffs and growing costs. As the industry continues to evolve, Nirvana's innovative approach to insurance is likely to play an increasingly important role in shaping the future of trucking.