Turku-based technology company Aurafleet streamlines the daily operations of logistics firms with its AI solution. Developing smart comprehensive management software requires top-notch expertise, which the company also draws from collaboration with a local university. This partnership is backed by Business Turku’s Research, Development and Innovation voucher.
The logistics sector is highly under-digitalized, says Aurafleet CEO Erik Rousi.
Cars are like computers on wheels, but most of the data remains unused. In addition, management tools for labour, routes, and fleets are fragmented, and information is scattered.
Aurafleet wants to change this. The AI-driven Aurafleet comprehensive management software acts as a pocket-sized data analyst for road transport companies, making daily life easier for professionals.
– It includes personnel management, transport management, shift planning, daily reporting, workday management, and telematics, meaning the data collected from vehicles, Rousi says.
He notes that a single dispatcher in an average small or medium-sized enterprise manages 15 vehicles. With Aurafleet, the number of vehicles can be increased to over 50. The system also helps save on fuel costs.
Aurafleet launched its first product targeted at small and medium-sized enterprises in May, and the reception has been overwhelmingly positive.
– It is an incredibly great feeling to realize that we have built something that truly meets what customers want, Rousi says.
Easy-Access Collaboration with Universities
Product development is the lifeblood of Aurafleet, and the company is already developing its next product. It is designed to solve the same problems in large logistics enterprises with fleets of thousands or tens of thousands of vehicles.
Product development is boosted by the Research, Development and Innovation voucher, which is coordinated by Business Turku and funded by the City of Turku. This funding enables the company to work closely with a soon-to-be PhD AI researcher from the University of Turku. The researcher brings their deep research knowledge and expertise to the project.
Thanks to the RDI voucher, Aurafleet is able to speed up its product development. Erik Rousi thinks that the greatest value of the voucher lies in lowering the barrier for startups to initiate collaboration with universities.
– The RDI voucher is a fantastic way to bridge the gap between academia and working life, especially startups, he says.
Rousi praises the AI research conducted at the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University as significant on a European scale. He hopes that instruments like the RDI voucher will offer more young researchers the chance to collaborate with startups and spark their interest in entrepreneurship.
– If I had been able to experience an environment like this for six months when I was young, it would have inspired me tremendously, he reflects.
A Million-Dollar Opportunity for Startups
The Aurafleet team consists of five founders and three employees. In addition to software development and AI, the team has expertise in logistics, sales, and in scaling startups successfully.
Rousi has lived in Germany for a long time and recently returned to his roots in Turku. He thinks that building the team in Turku was surprisingly easy. He sees a massive opportunity for startups in AI applications, and Turku is home to top-notch talent in the field.
– We have highly experienced software developers here who have worked as consultants in large consulting firms for a long time but haven’t wanted to move to places like (the Finnish capital) Helsinki, he says.
Before founding Aurafleet, Rousi and his partners interviewed 25 logistics companies and dove deep into the day-to-day needs of the industry. Their initial assumption was that companies would view AI with scepticism. That wasn’t the case.
– From the outset, everyone agreed that AI is interesting and believed it could boost their business. That was truly surprising, he says.
Ambitious Growth Expectations in Europe
Aurafleet is moving at a fast pace. The company was founded late 2025, and its first product is already on the market. The first customers are from Finland, but Rousi states that the goal is to expand into the Swedish and German markets within the next few years, and later into Denmark and Poland.
Aurafleet is being slowed down by the logistics companies’ old and rigid legacy software, which does not integrate with the AI software. When it comes to comprehensive AI-based systems, their competitors are found in Silicon Valley.
– There is not a single company in Europe that is effectively doing the same thing as us. There are plenty of companies and startups that solve a specific part of the bigger picture, Rousi says.
Rousi has ambitious goals for the future: in five years, Aurafleet will either be publicly listed or acquired for a significant sum. Revenue will be at one hundred million euros.
– I say it with a bit of a twinkle in my eye, but we want to be a unicorn from Turku. Of course, it is challenging, but that is what we have to aim for, he says.
Text and pictures: Heidi Pelander
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The article was produced as part of the EU co-funded InnoTurku project, which supports companies in growth, internationalisation, and RDI collaboration.
