gener8tor Founder Series: Ilya Preston from PAXAFE

Written By Luke Schuneman

We’re thrilled to kick off gener8tor’s Founder Series Spotlight with an in-depth conversation featuring Ilya Preston, Co-founder and CEO of PAXAFE. This debut episode highlights the bold vision and relentless execution behind one of the most innovative startups tackling the global cold chain logistics crisis.

Smarter Shipping for Sensitive Goods
Shipping is hard. Shipping temperature-sensitive goods, like pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and fresh produce, is next level challenging. That’s where PAXAFE steps in. Founded to bring orchestration and predictive decision intelligence to the logistics sector, PAXAFE helps top-tier pharma companies, food distributors, and logistics providers reduce risk, minimize loss, and optimize their global supply networks.

Their proprietary technology leverages contextual intelligence to predict risk across shipments, transforming passive tracking into proactive prevention. In our interview, Ilya unpacks how the company’s platform delivers dynamic visibility for high-stakes cargo, ensuring smarter outcomes in real-time.

Highlights from Our Conversation
In this 15-minute sit-down between Troy Vosseller, co-founder of gener8tor, and Ilya Preston, we explored the inflection points and insights that have defined PAXAFE’s scale-up story:

  • 🚀 Scaling with Purpose: PAXAFE has entered a robust scale-up phase with a versatile, distributed team spanning the U.S. and India. Their growth is powered by marquee customers in pharmaceuticals and perishable goods, and guided by a mission-driven product roadmap.

  • 💸 Backed by Leading Investors: With ~$14M raised to date, PAXAFE’s backers include Framework Venture Partners, Venture 53, Ubiquiti Ventures, Microsoft’s M12 fund, and gener8tor.

  • 📍 Built in the Midwest: Based in Indianapolis, Ilya credits the city’s cost-effective infrastructure, strategic central location, and deep logistics ecosystem as key drivers of PAXAFE’s success.

  • 💡 Adaptability is Everything: One of Ilya’s top takeaways for other founders? “Be comfortable in the uncomfortable.” Whether it’s pivoting through tough moments, seeking feedback early, or iterating without certainty, embracing discomfort has been core to the company’s resilience.

Thank You to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation
We also give a heartfelt shoutout to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) for their foundational support of PAXAFE and other high-impact innovators building in Indiana.

See the full interview here:

Luke Schuneman
Next

Five Cincinnati-based Startups Join Spring 2025 gBETA Accelerator