Motive has secured more than $1.3bn in growth financing from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund, the company announced on Thursday. Because of the financing, Motive has withdrawn its previously filed S-1 registration statement for an initial public offering.
The San Francisco company describes itself as “the AI platform for physical operations”. Its software helps companies manage workers, vehicles, equipment and fleet-related spending. Pranav Singhvi, a managing director at General Catalyst, has joined its board.
The withdrawn Motive IPO filing
Motive filed the registration statement in December 2025. It planned to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “MTVE”. J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Barclays and Jefferies were named as lead book-running managers. At the time, the company had not set the number of shares or a price range.
“With this financing, we’re very well capitalized. We withdrew our previously filed S-1,” co-founder and chief executive Shoaib Makani told FreightWaves. “But we remain very well positioned for the public markets in the future.”
He also told FreightWaves: “With this financing we can continue to operate privately, but with the resources to invest aggressively.”
In the release, Motive said it remains well positioned to pursue a public listing in the future.
The numbers Motive disclosed
The financing follows the strongest quarter in Motive’s history, the company said. Its annual recurring revenue crossed $600m, and its growth rate rose to 30% year on year.
Revenue from customers paying more than $100,000 a year grew nearly 60%. Net revenue retention for those customers was above 120%, according to the release.
Motive serves nearly 100,000 customers, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. They include firms in transport and logistics, construction, energy, field service, manufacturing, agriculture, retail and the public sector.
The announcement did not disclose a valuation or the terms of the financing.
Where the money goes
Motive said it will use the capital to develop its AI platform, scale its go-to-market teams and extend its reach with the largest operations. It named new products such as Maintenance, which it launched in August, and Operations Intelligence.
Earlier this year, Motive appointed Thomas Hansen as its first president of go-to-market. He previously held senior roles at Amplitude, UiPath, Dropbox and Microsoft. In June, the company brought its AI Coach product to the UK.
“Motive is building the intelligence layer for the physical economy,” Makani said in the release. Singhvi said: “The physical AI market, and edge AI specifically, represents one of the most compelling long-term opportunities we see today.”
Related TNW coverage
In August, TNW reported that Indian quick-commerce company Zepto had shelved its IPO plans and turned to private investors. In July, TNW reported that edge AI chipmaker Syntiant had filed for a US IPO.
TNW reported on Wednesday that Analog Devices will pay $1.35bn for edge AI chipmaker Alif Semiconductor. In June, Irish fleet-safety company CameraMatics raised up to €49m to take on Samsara in the US. In August, Gatik raised $200m to put more driverless box trucks on US roads.
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