Flexport, a US-based freight shipping management platform backed by media company Bloomberg, has closed a $110m series C round that valued it at $800m pre-money, TechCrunch has reported.
The participants in the round were “mostly” existing investors that included DST, five sources told TechCrunch, adding that some existing backers were shut out, and that Flexport turned down investor offers for funding at a $1bn valuation in favour of a more manageable figure.
Flexport has built software that helps optimise the transport of freight containers across air or sea, allowing deliveries to be booked, individual containers to be tracked and a user’s supply chain to be viewed and analysed. It also offers services such as warehousing and cargo insurance.
The round took Flexport’s total funding to $204m, including a $65m series B round featuring Bloomberg’s data-focused investment unit, Bloomberg Beta, in September 2016 that valued it at a reported $365m.
Founders Fund, Felicis Ventures, First Round Capital and Susa Ventures also backed the series B round, as did angel investors Yuri Milner and Joe Lonsdale.
Bloomberg and GV, part of internet technology group Alphabet, had already contributed to a $20m round in August 2015 that included Founders Fund, Felicis, First Round, Susa, A-Grade Investments, Cherubic Ventures, Fuel Capital, Funders Club, Y Combinator, Ceyuan Ventures and Fenway Summer Ventures.
Flexport had raised $6.9m from Bloomberg Beta, First Round, Susa, Acqequia Capital, A-Grade, Box Group, Cherubic Ventures, Fuel Capital, Funders Club, Hydrazine Capital, Inside Capital, Kindling Capital, Lunch Van Fund, SV Angel, TYLT Lab, Winklevoss Capital, Y Combinator and various angel investors three months earlier.