The on-demand revolution that Uber Technologies Inc. set off in personal travel is spreading to the world of freight transportation.

One of the startups pushing that trend forward is Convoy (Greypoint Inc.), which today said it has secured a $62 million investment led by Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund. The round reportedly marks the first occasion that the accelerator has backed a firm that didn’t participate in one of its early-stage programs. Other notable contributors include Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment, Bezos Expeditions and Salesforce.com Inc. Chief Executive Marc Benioff.

Two-year-old Convoy will use the capital to expand the reach of its logistics service, which matches organizations that deal in physical goods with trucking companies. The platform is positioned as a more efficient alternative to the traditional freight brokerages that have historically served as the intermediary.

Whereas agents at such firms usually arrange shipments on a manual basis, Convoy provides an app that handles much of the work automatically. When a company schedules a delivery, the service quickly brings up the trucks that are available to transport the load in the allocated time frame. Payment is sorted out upfront to protect buyers from unforeseen charges while ensuring that the carrier is compensated.

Trucking companies also have the ability to prioritize what delivery requests they receive based on their lane preferences, which helps optimize operations according to fleet availability and business considerations. Convoy claims that the result is better quality of service. The startup also has included a dispatching feature in the app for coordinating drivers while they’re on the road.

Convoy’s platform is used by more than 10,000 trucking companies worldwide along with a good number of brands, including Unilever PLC and several other Fortune 500 firms. The startup claims the number of shipments arranged through its platform is doubling every quarter.

Today’s funding should make it easier for Convoy to maintain this momentum as its operations expand and the numerous competitors out there continue to invest in their rival services. Convoy is going up against not only traditional brokerages but also fellow startups such as Austin, Texas-based uShip Inc., which raised $25 million earlier this year. Even Uber has joined the fray with an on-demand freight delivery platform that came online in March.

The freight booking market is only one of several segments within the sprawling logistics industry where Silicon Valley is working to upend traditional practices. The reason for the strong interest in this market boils down to simple numbers: Trucking companies alone generate over $700 billion in annual revenues.

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