Company:Convoy

From HandWiki
Short description: American trucking software company
Convoy
IndustryTrucking software
FateOperations shut down
Founded2015
Founders
  • Dan Lewis
  • Grant Goodale
Defunct2023
HeadquartersSeattle, Washington (state)
Websiteconvoy.com

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

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. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-01/trucking-startup-convoy-inks-its-biggest-deal-with-unilever. 
  2. Calfas, Jennifer (July 25, 2017). "The Startup That Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos Are Both Invested In". Fortune.com. http://fortune.com/2017/07/25/bill-gates-jeff-bezos-convoy/. 
  3. "In a first deal of its kind, Convoy lands $62 million led by YC's Continuity Fund" (in en-US). TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/25/in-a-first-deal-of-its-kind-convoy-lands-62-million-led-by-ycs-continuity-fund/. 
  4. Konrad, Alex (July 25, 2017). "Called The 'Uber For Trucks,' Convoy Raises $62M To Fend Off Uber Itself". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2017/07/25/uber-for-trucks-convoy-raises-62m-to-fend-off-uber-itself/. 
  5. Taylor, Soper (May 4, 2017). "Revealed: Winners of the 2017 GeekWire Awards". GeekWire. https://www.geekwire.com/2017/revealed-geekwire-awards-2017-winners/. 
  6. "On-demand trucking app Convoy raises $185M at $1B valuation" (in en-US). TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/21/on-demand-trucking-app-convoy-raises-185m-at-1b-valuation/. 
  7. "Convoy raises $400 million to expand its on-demand trucking platform" (in en-US). 13 November 2019. http://social.techcrunch.com/2019/11/13/convoy-raises-400-million-to-expand-its-on-demand-trucking-platform/. 
  8. Kingston, John (18 October 2023). "Convoy cancels all shipments, load board is empty, announcement upcoming". https://www.freightwaves.com/news/convoy-cancels-all-shipments-load-board-is-empty-announcement-upcoming. 
  9. "Convoy collapse: Read CEO's memo detailing sudden shutdown of Seattle trucking startup". https://www.geekwire.com/2023/convoy-collapse-read-ceos-memo-detailing-sudden-shutdown-of-seattle-trucking-startup/. 
  10. 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". https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/19/bezos-backed-freight-firm-convoy-shuts-down-read-ceo-memo-here.html. 

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