UAE-based autonomous logistics company CargoX has raised $250 million from an investor group led by BlueFive Capital — and paired the war chest with a heavyweight hire, appointing former Talabat chief executive Tomaso Rodriguez as CEO.
Rodriguez arrives with one of the region’s strongest operating records. Over six years at Talabat he grew the business more than ninefold into the Middle East’s largest food delivery service, capping the run with a $2 billion IPO in 2024 — the largest technology listing globally that year.
CargoX deploys driverless delivery vehicles across last-mile, middle-mile, and long-haul routes. The platform has already been piloted on public roads in the UAE, and the company says commercial operations are set to begin shortly in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The new capital will fund expansion of the autonomous network across the UAE and into international markets, along with continued investment in vehicle technology, operations infrastructure, and strategic partnerships.
The raise is one of the largest ever for a MENA-born autonomy company and signals where regional logistics investment is heading: away from rider-and-driver marketplaces and toward full automation of the delivery stack. For the UAE — which has aggressively courted autonomous vehicle testing with national regulatory frameworks — CargoX’s commercial rollout will be a closely watched proof point.
With funding secured, leadership installed, and public-road pilots complete, the question now is execution speed: how quickly CargoX can turn UAE pilot routes into a commercial network that justifies a $250 million bet on driverless delivery.
