| Convoy | |
| Industry: | Trucking software |
| Location: | Seattle, Washington |
| Foundation: | 2015 |
| Fate: | Operations shut down |
| Defunct: | 2023 |
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.
Former Amazon employees Dan Lewis and Grant Goodale co-founded Convoy in 2015.[2]
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,[3] Mosaic Ventures, former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, and Barry Diller. This round of funding brought Convoy's total amount raised to $80 million.[4]
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.[5]
Convoy was awarded GeekWire's 2017 Startup of the Year.[6]
In 2018, Convoy raised $185 million led by CapitalG at a $1 billion valuation.[7]
In 2019, Convoy raised $400 million, led by Generation Investment Management and T. Rowe Price at a $2.75 billion valuation.[8]
In June 2023, Convoy's co-founder and chief experience officer, Goodale, left the company.
On 18th October 2023, Convoy canceled all shipments amidst rumors of an upcoming transition.[9]
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.[10] 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.[11] On 1st November 2023, supply chain company Flexport acquired Convoy's assets and retained a small group of employees for an undisclosed sum.[12] Convoy's co-founder and CEO, Lewis, joined Flexport as part of the deal.[13]