This month has been quite transformative for Autosled.

Not only did the company that aims to make vehicle logistics/transportation more efficient and simpler through technology announce that it has completed its Series A funding round and established its board of directors, Autosled also appointed a new chief executive officer, choosing a leader who one of the founders has known since they were in high school together.

Tapped to spearhead its leadership team, Autosled chose former Tesla and SolarCity executive Leon “Lee” Keshishian as CEO not long after naming a new chief technology officer as well as a new vice president of business development and a new VP of data and analytics.

According to a news release, Keshishian joined Autosled initially as a board advisor to assist the company through its strategic planning and funding efforts. During that process, Keshishian was asked to join full time to lead the company into its next stage of growth in automotive logistics.

As CEO, Autosled said Keshishian is focused on talent acquisition, scaling the business for accelerated growth and securing funding. A marketing and business professional with high growth operations experience across consumer products, renewable energy, and logistics, Autosled highlighted that Keshishian is “uniquely positioned” to move the company forward.

“Having known Lee since high school, I was excited to initially get him involved in Autosled’s mission to transform the automotive logistics market as an advisor,” said David Sperau, co-founder and Autosled chief revenue officer.

“After working with him over several months in that capacity, and witnessing his ability to develop strategic plans, hire top talent and position operations for scalable growth, we were excited to have him join us full time,” Sperau continued in the news release.

A former executive at Tesla, Autosled said Keshishian is no stranger to the opportunities available in automotive transport, nor the fast-paced environment of a company that’s in demand.

Early in his career, Keshishian managed brands like Dial Soap, launched new housing developments for Pulte Homes and co-founded one of the first renewable energy companies in the Mid-Atlantic region.

After the acquisition of Clean Currents Solar by SolarCity, Keshishian grew from one location in Maryland to more than 30 facilities and more than 3,000 employees that sold and installed residential and commercial solar and energy storage systems on the East Coast, building the largest region in the largest solar company in America.

After SolarCity was acquired by sister company Tesla, Keshishian integrated his team and supported the expansion of Tesla products, such as EV charging, energy storage and new roofing products. The team also helped build automobiles in California, construct battery lines in Nevada and delivered autos at quarter endings, exposing him to the logistics challenges.

After leaving Tesla in 2018, Keshishian founded an asset management company for SolarCity customers, KWH Care. This quickly merged with Palmetto Solar, bringing Keshishian on board as chief operating officer.

At Palmetto, Keshishian hired and grew its fulfillment and field operations teams, resulting in a 400% growth in two years.

As COVID-19 hit, Keshishian reconnected with his former classmate David Sperau on his new venture, Autosled. Spending time with David and his brother Dan, Keshishian became convinced of the market potential and began advising the company.

“Lee has really helped us prepare for growth, bringing funding partners who share our vision of changing the way automotive vehicles are transported,” said Dan Sperau, co-founder and chief financial officer. “He has helped set us up for an exciting 2022.’’

Funding and board developments

As previously mentioned, Autosled confirmed the closing of a $5 million Series A round as the company continues its mission to revolutionize the automotive transport marketplace.

According to another news release, leading the round was Lyndon Rive, who co-founded SolarCity (now Tesla Energy) in 2006 along with his brother Pete and cousin, Elon Musk.

Joining Rive in the Series A investment was Andrew Leto, founder of freight procurement marketplace Emerge. Leto invested through Arcturus Venture, his single-family investment office that specializes in supporting tech enabled startups within the transportation and logistics sectors.

Following Rive and Leto in this round was Dave Baggett, current CEO of Inky Technology and former COO and co-founder of ITA software, an airfare pricing engine platform acquired by Google in 2010 (now Google Travel).

A group of individuals from the Georgetown Angel Investor Network, represented by Marc Suhlam, also participated in the round.

The company said this funding brings Autosled’s total capital raised to more than $7 million.

“When Lee first described Autosled’s goals, I saw the opportunity,” Rive said. “After dealing with Tesla’s own vehicle delivery pain points, I knew firsthand the market challenges that needed to be addressed.

“Dan and David’s retail automotive knowledge, combined with Lee’s operational execution, made the investment decision a no-brainer,” Rive continued.

In addition to completing its Series A round, Autosled appointed John Stewart to the board of directors.

Stewart founded MapAnything in 2006, a data mapping tool for location-based services that was acquired by Salesforce in 2019.

The company explained Stewart’s knowledge of location intelligence plays a vital role in Autosled’s future product roadmap as it continues to optimize its platform.

Stewart has continued to invest and serve as a board advisor for various start-ups, such as Palmetto and Emerge.

“Ushering in transparency through the use of technology is the key to reinventing transporter logistics,” Leto said. “The chance to bring these improvements to the automotive sector with Autosled was a natural extension to my other ventures.

“Lee and the team have the potential to build an incredibly impactful solution. We are already receiving extremely positive feedback from both dealerships and transporters who are utilizing the Autosled platform,” Leto went on say.