Convoy (company)

Convoy was an American trucking software company[1] co-founded by CEO Dan Lewis and CTO Grant Goodale.

Convoy
IndustryTrucking software
Founded2015
Founders
  • Dan Lewis
  • Grant Goodale
Defunct2023
FateOperations shut down
HeadquartersSeattle, Washington
Websiteconvoy.com

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, [2] Mosaic Ventures, former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, and Barry Diller. This round of funding brought Convoy's total amount raised to $80 million.[3]

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.[4]

Convoy was awarded GeekWire's 2017 Startup of the Year.[5]

In 2018, Convoy raised $185 million led by CapitalG at a $1 billion valuation.[6]

In 2019, Convoy raised $400 million, led by Generation Investment Management and T. Rowe Price at a $2.75 billion valuation.[7]

On 18th October 2023, Convoy canceled all shipments amidst rumors of an upcoming transition. [8]

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.[9] 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.[10]

References
  1. Bass, Dina (November 1, 2016). "Trucking Startup Convoy Inks Its Biggest Deal With Unilever". Bloomberg.com.
  2. Calfas, Jennifer (July 25, 2017). "The Startup That Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos Are Both Invested In". Fortune.com.
  3. "In a first deal of its kind, Convoy lands $62 million led by YC's Continuity Fund". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  4. Konrad, Alex (July 25, 2017). "Called The 'Uber For Trucks,' Convoy Raises $62M To Fend Off Uber Itself". Forbes.
  5. Taylor, Soper (May 4, 2017). "Revealed: Winners of the 2017 GeekWire Awards". GeekWire.
  6. "On-demand trucking app Convoy raises $185M at $1B valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  7. "Convoy raises $400 million to expand its on-demand trucking platform". TechCrunch. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  8. Kingston, John. "Convoy cancels all shipments, load board is empty, announcement upcoming". Frieghtwaves. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  9. "Convoy collapse: Read CEO's memo detailing sudden shutdown of Seattle trucking startup". Geekwire. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  10. de León, Riley. "Bezos-backed freight firm Convoy shuts down after slashing hundreds of jobs. Read the CEO's memo to employees". CNBC. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
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