glīd: Autonomous Freight Solutions | TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

From Military Logistics to Startup Innovation: The Story of Glīd Technologies

Kevin Damoa’s journey into the complexities of freight transport began at age 17, while serving in the U.S. Army. He was responsible for loading tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles onto railcars, sparking a lifelong fascination with logistics.

This initial interest continued throughout his 13-year service with the U.S. Air Force National Guard as a firefighter. He further honed his expertise through roles at prominent companies including SpaceX, Northrup Grumman, Romeo Power Tech, and Xos Trucks.

The Road-to-Rail Problem Revisited

It wasn’t until 2022, while contributing to the Serial 1 e-bike project, that Damoa revisited the challenges of transferring freight between road and rail transport.

Damoa experienced a pivotal moment of realization. Observing global logistics, he noted the inefficiencies of rail, congested ports, and dangerous roadways. He questioned why rail wasn’t utilized more extensively, leading him back to the core issue he encountered as a young soldier: the difficulty of transitioning goods from road to rail.

Glīd Technologies: A Solution Focused on the "First Mile"

Recognizing the intricate, multi-stage process of moving containers from ships to freight trains, Damoa established Glīd Technologies to address this problem. The California-based startup, pronounced "Glide," is a finalist in the 2025 TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield competition.

Glīd’s approach isn’t to directly compete with rail freight services. Instead, the company concentrates on optimizing the crucial “first mile” – the movement of containers from the port to the railroad – and streamlining road-to-rail transfers within large industrial complexes.

The initial stage of transport presents the most significant hurdles. Unloading ships, stacking containers, and determining their final destinations remain inefficient processes involving numerous steps.

The Traditional Process and Glīd’s Innovative Approach

Currently, a ship’s containers are lifted by a crane and placed onto a hostler truck for short-distance maneuvering. These trucks transport the containers to a stacking area. A forklift then lifts and places the container into the stack, and later retrieves it for another hostler truck ride to the railhead. Finally, another forklift or crane loads the container onto a freight train.

Glīd Technologies has developed both hardware and software solutions to accelerate and reduce the costs associated with moving shipping containers to railheads and their ultimate destinations.

Their first product, GliderM, is a hybrid-electric vehicle equipped with a hook capable of directly lifting and transporting 20-foot containers to the rail, eliminating the need for forklifts and hostler trucks.

The company is also developing logistics software and Rāden, an armored, low-profile platform that can autonomously lift and move trailers along the road-to-rail route.

Efficiency and Cost Savings

“We act as the baton passer,” Damoa explains, describing the system’s function. “We transfer the load to the middle mile, and our focus is on utilization – maximizing the number of containers moved within that first mile each day to optimize costs.”

The cost benefits are substantial. By removing forklifts and hostler trucks and utilizing rail transport instead of trucks, Glīd offers a mobility-as-a-service system at a significantly lower price point.

Customers subscribe for $300,000 annually, gaining access to a GliderM or Rāden unit, along with Glīd’s logistics software, EZRA-1SIX. An additional charge of 8 cents per ton per mile is applied. Damoa highlights this as a compelling value, as it effectively combines the functions of a train, truck, and forklift, alongside the service itself.

Currently, the combined costs of transloading, train fees, and truck transport average $2.27 per ton per mile, according to Damoa.

Early Adoption and Investment

The 14-person startup is initially targeting short rail systems, ports that own their tracks, and expansive industrial parks. Glīd has already secured agreements with four short-line railroads, the Port of Woodland in Washington, Taylor Transport in Vancouver, and Great Plains Industrial Park in Kansas, a 6,800-acre site boasting 30 miles of internal rail lines and a dedicated transload facility.

Glīd’s technology and business model have attracted investor interest, recognizing the potential for disruption in the logistics sector.

Damoa acknowledges the initial challenges in securing funding, admitting he struggled to attract investment in the early stages. However, participation in the Antler startup accelerator program, which provided crucial CEO and pitch training, proved pivotal. Glīd secured investment even before building its first prototype.

In July, the startup announced a $3.1 million pre-seed funding round led by Outlander VC, with participation from Draper U Ventures, Antler, The Veteran Fund, M1C, and angel investors. Subsequent funding has brought the total raised to $7.1 million, with a post-money valuation of $35 million.

To discover more about Glīd Technologies directly – and to explore numerous other innovative startups, hear their presentations, and engage with guest speakers across four stages – join us at Disrupt, October 27 to 29 in San Francisco. Further details are available here.