Convoy (company)
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| Industry | Trucking software |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2015 |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 2023 |
| Fate | Operations shut down |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington |
| Website | convoy |
Convoy was an American trucking software company co-founded by CEO Dan Lewis and CTO Grant Goodale.[1] The company was shut down in November 2023, while its assets and some of the employees were acquired by Flexport.[2]
History
[edit]Former Amazon employees Dan Lewis and Grant Goodale co-founded Convoy in 2015.[3]
On 25 July 2017, the company raised $62 million in Series B funding, led by Y Combinator's Continuity Fund. Other new investors included Cascade Investment CEO Bill Gates,[4] Mosaic Ventures, former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, and Barry Diller. This round of funding brought Convoy's total amount raised to $80 million.[5]
They joined existing Convoy investors Greylock Partners (the VC fund of LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman), Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos via Bezos Expeditions, former Starbucks President Howard Behar, Code.org founders Hadi and Ali Partovi, and the founders & CEOs of eBay, Instagram, KKR, and Dropbox, among others.[6]
Convoy was awarded GeekWire's 2017 Startup of the Year.[7]
In 2018, Convoy raised $185 million led by CapitalG at a $1 billion valuation.[8]
In 2019, Convoy raised $400 million, led by Generation Investment Management and T. Rowe Price at a $2.75 billion valuation.[9]
In June 2023, Convoy's co-founder and chief experience officer, Goodale, left the company.[3]
On 18th October 2023, Convoy canceled all shipments amidst rumors of an upcoming transition.[10]
On 19th October 2023, Convoy ceased operations and laid off remaining staff. Remaining staff were given no severance and were told their stock options were worthless.[11] In a memo sent that day to employees, Lewis points to "a massive freight recession and a contraction in the capital markets" as major factors resulting in the company's failure.[12] On 1st November 2023, supply chain company Flexport acquired Convoy's assets and retained a small group of employees for an undisclosed sum.[13] Convoy's co-founder and CEO, Lewis, joined Flexport as part of the deal.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ Bass, Dina (November 1, 2016). "Trucking Startup Convoy Inks Its Biggest Deal With Unilever". Bloomberg.com.
- ^ a b Soper, Taylor (2023-11-01). "Flexport buys Convoy's tech; Convoy CEO Dan Lewis, other employees to join freight company". GeekWire. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
- ^ a b Bek, Nate (2023-06-21). "Convoy co-founder Grant Goodale to step down from trucking marketplace startup after 8 years". GeekWire. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
- ^ Calfas, Jennifer (July 25, 2017). "The Startup That Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos Are Both Invested In". Fortune.com.
- ^ "In a first deal of its kind, Convoy lands $62 million led by YC's Continuity Fund". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
- ^ Konrad, Alex (July 25, 2017). "Called The 'Uber For Trucks,' Convoy Raises $62M To Fend Off Uber Itself". Forbes.
- ^ Taylor, Soper (May 4, 2017). "Revealed: Winners of the 2017 GeekWire Awards". GeekWire.
- ^ "On-demand trucking app Convoy raises $185M at $1B valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
- ^ "Convoy raises $400 million to expand its on-demand trucking platform". TechCrunch. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
- ^ Kingston, John (18 October 2023). "Convoy cancels all shipments, load board is empty, announcement upcoming". Frieghtwaves. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ "Convoy collapse: Read CEO's memo detailing sudden shutdown of Seattle trucking startup". Geekwire. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ de León, Riley (19 October 2023). "Bezos-backed freight firm Convoy shuts down after slashing hundreds of jobs. Read the CEO's memo to employees". CNBC. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ Bellan, Rebecca (2023-11-02). "Flexport acquires technology of former digital freight unicorn Convoy". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
External links
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