California-based startup Glīd is celebrating two significant milestones this month: the closure of its oversubscribed $3.1 million pre-seed funding round, led by Outlander VC, with contributions from Draper U Ventures, Antler, The Veteran Fund, M1C, and mission-aligned angel investors with a focus on national resilience, industrial reinvention, and climate infrastructure. Additionally, the company revealed its hybrid-electric Rāden vehicle, paired with the AI-powered EZRA-1SIX system, designed to automate the first mile and reclaim idle infrastructure.
While many logistics challenges stem from technology, the more complex issues arise between disconnected systems. Glīd aims to close this gap with its revolutionary platform. The startup introduced what it claims to be the world’s first unmanned, autonomous road-to-rail system, combining the Rāden hybrid-electric vehicle with the AI-driven orchestration system EZRA-1SIX. The primary objective? To replace outdated transload zones, recover idle infrastructure, and reduce first-mile logistics costs by up to 40 percent.
The platform debuted at New Mobility Futures, where Glīd showcased its dual-mode technology built to support freight, defense, and industrial automation. As supply chains struggle with labor shortages, geopolitical tensions, and carbon mandates, Glīd is positioning its solution as an off-grid alternative to traditional logistics systems—one that is versatile enough for commercial use and rugged enough for national security applications.
“This is a historic moment. We’re not just building vehicles; we’re synchronizing road and rail with atoms and bits,” said Kevin Damoa, Founder and CEO of Glīd. “The next generation of logistics is not man versus machine, but man and machine working in harmony—unmanned systems guided by human values. That’s what we stand for.”
The Platform: Rāden + EZRA-1SIX
Rāden: The Unmanned Autonomous Road-to-Rail Dual Mobility Platform
Glīd’s system consists of two integral components: Rāden, an entirely unmanned hybrid-electric ground vehicle capable of operating both on roads and rails, and EZRA-1SIX, a logistics orchestration platform that oversees movement, routing, and coordination across multimodal environments.
Rāden is built on a flat-deck chassis and engineered for heavy payload transportation in off-grid or industrial environments. It has a top speed of 65 mph on roads and 25 mph on rails, supporting payloads ranging from 4,000 to 10,000 lbs. The vehicle can travel up to 600 miles on a single charge and complies with standard-gauge rail specifications, allowing it to integrate with existing infrastructure while bypassing traditional bottlenecks.
EZRA-1SIX functions as the intelligent layer that enables real-time dispatching, route planning, load balancing, and human-in-the-loop oversight—all from a single interface. This orchestration layer makes the platform suitable not just for logistics hubs but also for defense operations, ports, and industrial corridors that require modular, autonomous mobility under unpredictable conditions.
Measurable Impact
According to Glīd’s internal modeling, its platform could reduce first-mile logistics costs by up to 40 percent, decrease carbon emissions by over 60 percent compared to diesel-powered alternatives, and recover more than 50 percent of idle rail capacity at industrial zones and ports.
The results are clear: fewer vehicles, less labor-intensive transloading, and no need for expensive infrastructure upgrades. The system delivers immediate operational ROI while helping businesses and governments meet sustainability goals.
Built by Operators, Not Consultants
Behind Glīd’s success is a team with deep expertise in logistics, aerospace, and defense technology. Founder and CEO Kevin A. Damoa is a U.S. military veteran and former logistics officer who later led supply chain and manufacturing efforts at SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, XOS Trucks, and Canoo. At SpaceX, he played a crucial role in developing logistics systems and custom equipment used to transport rockets from the factory to the launchpad.
COO and co-founder Matt Mueller brings significant aerospace experience. He has held senior operations roles at SpaceX and led quality programs at Hadrian and Antora Energy. His experience spans from overseeing Starlink production lines to investigating AMOS-6 failures and implementing ISO and AS9100 certifications across multiple sites.
Together, the team has established a company grounded in execution. Glīd isn’t chasing hype or theoretical technologies. Instead, it’s focusing on underused infrastructure and making it work more efficiently.
Dual-Use, Real-World Ready
What distinguishes Glīd is not just its autonomous vehicle, but the integration of road and rail mobility under one platform, along with the use of AI to orchestrate movement with minimal human intervention. The company calls this “dual mobility,” marking a shift from fragmented logistics systems toward unified, adaptable solutions that can respond in real time.
For defense applications, this could mean faster supply deployments to forward areas, without relying on vulnerable infrastructure or manual transloading. For commercial logistics, it translates into fewer bottlenecks, reduced emissions, and optimized asset utilization, all in a sector with razor-thin margins.
As geopolitical risks, domestic labor shortages, and strained rail capacity continue to challenge the supply chain, Glīd’s approach feels less like an ambitious, distant idea and more like a practical, immediate step forward.
“We believe innovation should serve people,” the company said in a statement. “By transforming logistics at the intersection of autonomy, infrastructure, and integrity, we’re building systems that uplift communities, strengthen economies, and prepare the world for what lies ahead.”
Glīd is currently conducting early demos of its platform and is seeking partnerships across defense, freight, and industrial sectors.
