Flexe provides logistics and supply chain management services tailored for the e-commerce market. The company offers on-demand warehousing and fulfillment solutions that allow businesses to manage their inventory and order fulfillment more effectively. Flexe's model gives access to a large network of warehouses without requiring long-term commitments, enabling businesses to adjust their storage needs based on demand. This flexibility is particularly advantageous for e-commerce companies that need to position their products closer to customers to enhance delivery speed and reduce shipping costs. A standout feature of Flexe is its same-day delivery service, which helps clients compete with larger companies like Amazon. By utilizing Flexe's services, businesses can achieve significant cost savings and improve their operational efficiency, making it a compelling choice in the logistics sector.

Tiger Global

Prologis

Madrona Venture Group

Redpoint

T. Rowe Price

Activate Capital

Balius Partners

BlackRock

SV Angel

Second Avenue Partners

Charlie Songhurst

Hank Vigil

Fritz Lanman

Industrial & Manufacturing

Consumer Goods

Flexe

The Seattle waterfront and Port of Seattle properties, with a container ship and West Seattle in the background. (GeekWire Photo / Taylor Soper)Buoyed by longtime logistics giants such as Amazon and the rapid rise of trucking startup Convoy, the Seattle region has emerged as a major epicenter for supply chain software innovation.There are at least 15 startups in the Seattle area (listed below) that develop logistics software to help companies move and manage physical goods.The supply chain talent pool in Seattle has a unique blend of “technical skill and customer focus required to win in today’s economy,” said Jason Murray, a former Amazon vice president and co-founder of Seattle-based shipping logistics startup Shipium.That talent can be traced back to global corporations in Seattle such as Starbucks, Costco, Expeditors, and Amazon.The city has an abundance of “supply chain awareness,” said Dan Lewis, co-founder and former CEO of Convoy, a one-time darling of Seattle’s startup scene that raised investment from the likes of Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. The digital trucking marketplace was valued at more than $3 billion before shutting down in 2023 and selling its assets to Flexport, which re-launched the platform this year and has a Seattle-area satellite office.The supply chain crisis during the pandemic, along with advances in mobile, AI, and other software-related technologies, has driven interest and funding to logistics startups, Lewis said. Lewis and his co-founder Grant Goodale cut their teeth at Amazon before launching Convoy in 2015.Other Amazon leaders have taken the startup leap into logistics in Seattle, including Dave Clark, the former Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO who just raised $100 million for Auger, a supply chain tech startup.An Amazon electric van in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)Clark, who was recently based in Dallas, returned to the Seattle area to launch Auger.“I think some of the best talent in the world for this particular problem space lives in Seattle,” he told GeekWire in October.Bryan Lacaillade is another former Amazonian now leading a Seattle-area logistics startup, launching Freightmate earlier this year.“Seattle’s logistics tech ecosystem is truly world-class and was the primary reason we chose to launch Freightmate here,” said Lacaillade, who previously worked at Flexport.Mo Afshar, CEO of Pipe17, a Seattle e-commerce operations startup, said the physical proximity to Amazon gives his company an advantage.“Amazon has defined a lot of what logistics means in the modern world, so being in the same city really makes a difference,” he said. Seattle has built a reputation around the country as a hub for logistics tech talent

A List Of Logistics Startups In Seattle, A ‘World-Class’ Hub For Supply Chain Software Talent

Flexe ranked number 370 fastest-growing company in North America on the 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast 500(TM).

Flexe Ranked Number 370 Fastest-Growing Company in North America on the 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast 500(TM)

- Pirasenna Thiyagarajan joined Seattle warehousing logistics and shipping startup Flexe as its chief technology and product officer.

Tech Moves: Flexe taps new CTO; Talus adds head of biology; Vouched names a sales VP

Smartsheet CEO Mark Mader accepts the Next Tech Titan award at the GeekWire Awards in 2016. Eight years later, Smartsheet is a publicly traded company valued at more than $5 billion, recently surpassing $1 billion in annualized recurring revenue. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota)Which company will be the next tech titan to emerge from the Pacific Northwest?GeekWire’s startup coverage seeks to answer this fundamental question every day, at least implicitly. But once a year, we formalize the process through the Next Tech Titan category in the GeekWire Awards, our annual event recognizing the top innovators and companies in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.Continue reading for details on each finalist, and a sampling of past Next Tech Titan winners as evidence of the predictive capabilities of this award. Vote here or below in this GeekWire Awards category, which is presented by Baird.And the finalists for Next Tech Titan are … MotherDuck, a serverless data analytics platform built on the open-source platform DuckDB, an in-process online analytical processing database, or OLAP. Its technology makes it simpler for businesses to run analytics on their data, rather than relying on more expensive services from large cloud vendors

Next Tech Titan: Motherduck, Rec Room, Statsig, Submittable, Zuper Vie For Pivotal Geekwire Award

Last year saw a surge in layoffs in the logistics sector as freight volumes declined. So far, 2024 isn’t shaping up to be much better for the industry, as The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) noted in a report Monday (Jan. 29). Among the companies cutting jobs this year are Flexport, warehousing provider Flexe and digital broker Uber Freight, the report said, as weaker freight volumes and high interest rates leave firms feeling stretched

Logistics Startups Slash Jobs As Freight Volumes Drop

Warehousing and fulfillment startup Flexe lays off 99 workers.

Warehousing and fulfillment startup Flexe lays off 99 workers

GeekWire’s in-depth startup coverage tells the stories of the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene.(Flexe Photo)Flexe is trimming its headcount again in another round of layoffs.The Seattle-based startup cut 38% of its workforce, CEO Karl Siebrecht confirmed Monday.“We remain committed to supporting our departing employees and to continuing to provide world class service to our customers,” Siebrecht told GeekWire.Flexe previously laid off staff in September, including 131 positions in Washington state.The company did not provide an updated headcount. It has more than 300 employees, according to LinkedIn. A former Flexe employee posted about a Slack thread for impacted workers.The layoffs reflect how quickly times have changed for startups such as Flexe that raised gobs of venture capital but are now facing roadblocks on multiple fronts — both industry-specific hurdles and broader market challenges.Flexe, which helps online retailers with warehousing space and other shipping needs, is among a crop of logistics startups that have been forced to cut costs in recent months.Seattle-based digital trucking marketplace Convoy, which reached a $3.8 billion valuation in 2022, abruptly shut down late last year.Flexe was another so-called “unicorn,” reaching a $1 billion valuation in 2022 after it raised a $119 million Series D round. At the time, Flexe was coming off big growth, fueled by a pandemic-driven surge in online shopping and higher freight volumes.Layoff tracker: See all recent workforce cuts at our regularly updated listAfter the company raised its Series D round, Siebrecht told GeekWire that “we need to be really smart about how we manage that cash given the market uncertainty,” adding, “we have to make investments in scalable growth — not just growth itself.”Tech startups across various industries continue to lay off staff or shut down, as venture capitalists remain cautious about deploying money after years of skyrocketing valuations amid lower interest rates. GeekWire reported Monday about Seattle-based camper van startup Cabana closing up shop.Less than a year ago, Flexe won Next Tech Titan honors at the GeekWire Awards in May.The company’s former longtime CTO David Glick stepped down in January.Flexe investors include Activate Capital, Madrona Venture Group, Prologis Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc

Warehousing And Logistics Startup Flexe Cuts 38% Of Workforce In Latest Layoffs

In this podcast, logistics management and peerless media Supply Chain group news editor jeff berman interviews Ben Dean, Director of Logistics Strategy and Warehouse Solutions, for seattle-based Flexe.

State of the Warehousing Market

GeekWire’s in-depth startup coverage tells the stories of the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene.Flexe co-founder and CEO Karl Siebrecht. (Flexe Photo)Flexe, a Seattle logistics startup that hit a $1 billion valuation last year, has laid off 33% of its staff.The company confirmed the cuts to GeekWire but did not provide specific headcount data. Flexe employs more than 400 people, according to LinkedIn.Founded in 2013, Flexe sells on-demand warehousing space for online retailers, as well as transportation and fulfillment services. The company raised a $119 million Series D round last year, becoming one of Seattle’s rare “unicorns,” or startups valued at $1 billion or more.The freight market slowdown is impacting various logistics startups, including freight forwarding giant Flexport, which laid off 20% of its workforce in January and is in cost-cutting mode.Seattle digital trucking marketplace Convoy, another unicorn, has laid off employees several times over the past year.It’s a different environment than 2021, when funding to logistics startups such as Flexe nearly doubled year-over-year amid a pandemic-driven surge in online shopping and higher freight volumes.Flexe is led by CEO and co-founder Karl Siebrecht, the former CEO of AdReady and former president of aQuantive’s Atlas technology division.After the company raised its Series D round last year, Siebrecht told GeekWire that “we need to be really smart about how we manage that cash given the market uncertainty,” adding, “we have to make investments in scalable growth — not just growth itself.”The broader tech downturn spurred thousands of layoffs across the tech sector, though cuts have slowed in recent months.Flexe won Next Tech Titan honors at the GeekWire Awards in May.The company’s former longtime CTO David Glick stepped down in January.Flexe investors include Activate Capital, Madrona Venture Group, Prologis Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and T

Seattle Warehousing Startup Flexe Lays Off 33% Of Workforce Amid Freight Industry Slowdown

Daiso is working with logistics network Flexe and transportation and warehousing company JT Logistics in DeSoto.

Japanese retailer Daiso plans a second Dallas store

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On-demand warehousing and fulfillment services

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On-demand warehousing and fulfillment services

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