While there are plenty of Seattle tech startups around offering some form of virtual warehousing for digital data, there aren’t too many around that offer physical warehouses for physical objects.
The exception is Flexe, which today announced a $43 million Series B round of funding. The company claims this investment — led by Activate Capital and Tiger Global Management — sets the company up as the “dominant player in the on-demand warehousing category.”
So what is “on-demand warehousing?” Through its software platform, businesses with excess stuff to store can find and connect with a network of more than 1,000 rentable warehouse and fulfillment facilities. The whole process is supported by Flexe’s team of logistics experts, and the startup monitors warehouse providers on a number of data points to ensure things go smoothly.
Between the browsable warehouses, software-enabled bookings and data-driven performance ratings, think of Flexe as an Airbnb for warehouses.
It’s a rewarding challenge to solve.”
Co-founder and Chief Data Officer Edmond Yue told Built In Seattle that he had little experience in the logistics industry when he co-founded the company with Francis Duong and CEO Karl Siebrecht in 2013.
“The first time I ever stepped into a warehouse, I was nearly run over by a forklift,” Yue said via email. “However, my co-founders and I did have experience founding and scaling successful technology companies.”
Siebrecht previously worked as the CEO of AdReady, while Duong and Yue had co-founded Ignition Mobile together through Y Combinator, before selling the business in 2011. The company now employs over 80 people, and Yue said it will more than double its team by year’s end. Flexe recently hired new leaders for its tech and HR teams, including a veteran of Amazon’s fulfillment and logistics tech teams as its CTO.
“With this Series B investment, we will further accelerate the development of our technology platform, expand and deepen our relationships with warehouse providers, and continue to grow our amazing teams,” Yue wrote.
The company, which Built In Seattle featured as one of our 50 Startups to Know in 2019, currently works with companies spanning a diverse range of industries, from Ace Hardware to bike share startup Lime.
Yue said Ace Hardware uses Flexe to support their so-called “Hurricane Heroes” initiative.
“Ahead of peak hurricane season, they pre-positioned emergency response materials in regions that were most likely to be impacted by a storm,” Yue wrote, adding that last year, the company was able to provide support to communities affected by Hurricanes Florence and Michael within 24 hours.
Yue said Flexe sees itself as an extension of its customers’ teams, which means the company is always brainstorming new ways to make warehousing and fulfillment operations more efficient.
“It’s a rewarding challenge to solve,” he wrote. “We get to experience the multitude of different use cases for the on-demand model and help our clients grow and achieve their goals.”
