Flexport Valuation Doubles to $8 Billion in Latest Funding Round

Feb 7 (Reuters) – Flexport’s valuation more than doubled to $8 billion on Monday after a funding round led by venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and MSD Partners, as logistics companies attract investors amid the pandemic-led global supply-chain disruptions.

The San Francisco-headquartered company said it had raised $935 million in the late-stage funding round in which SoftBank Vision Fund 1, Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify Inc , DST Global and Founders Fund also participated.

Flexport, which enable buyers, sellers and their logistics partners to ship, store and trade goods said it would use the funds to build its tech platform and expand into new markets.

Other companies from the sector have also drawn investor interest with U.S. logistics technology firm Flock Freight fetching a valuation of over $1 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 in October.

“Global trade is facing historic challenges, which demand innovative approaches that address both the current difficulties and more systemic issues,” said David George, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, adding that the company is positioned to make an impact on the “multi-trillion dollar industry.” Flexport in December helped fly three planes loaded with potatoes to Japan, as a shortage of the vegetable caused McDonald’s in the country to suspend the sale of medium- and large-sized french fries.

Founded in 2013, the company more than doubled its revenue last year, moving nearly $19 billion of merchandise across 112 countries. It counts audio electronics maker Sonos, apparel brand Bombas and paper products manufacturer Georgia-Pacific among its customers.

Last month, it partnered with Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings to add to its fleet a third Boeing 747-400 freighter, beginning September 2022.

Flexport, which was valued at $3.2 billion in February 2019,

also specializes in customs brokerage, data analytics and cloud software. It competes with iContainers, Freightos and FreightHub, according to company insights provider Owler.

(Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel and Vinay Dwivedi)

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