Flexport, the US-based backed freight management platform backed by media company Bloomberg and internet and technology group Alphabet, confirmed on Friday that it had closed a $110m series C round.
Investment firm DST Global led the round, with almost all of the funding being provided by existing investors that included Founders Fund and Susa Ventures. Financial services firm Wells Fargo participated as a new investor, investing through its Strategic Capital unit according to TechCrunch.
Founded in 2013, Flexport operates a software platform that enables users to schedule, track and manage the shipping of large quantities of goods across the ocean or air. It also provides services such as warehousing and shipping insurance
Flexport’s intends to add trade financing to the services it provides, CEO Ryan Petersen told TechCrunch, explaining that it plans to leverage finance from banks like Wells Fargo to fund customers, using its data to assess their creditworthiness.
Petersen said in a blog post: “Trade is inherently social, and with every supply chain stakeholder who joins our platform, we get one step closer to fulfilling our dream of powering a seamless web of commerce. We will not let up until we have made global trade easy for everyone on Earth.”
The round valued Flexport at $910m post-money and took its overall funding to $204m, $6.5m of which came in a May 2015 seed round backed by Bloomberg subsidiary Bloomberg Beta.
Susa Ventures, First Round Capital, 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 and Y Combinator also took part in the seed round.
Flexport raised $20m in a series A round three months later featuring Bloomberg Beta as well as Alphabet subsidiary GV, Susa, Founders Fund, Felicis Ventures, First Round, A-Grade Investments, Cherubic Ventures, Fuel Capital, Funders Club, Y Combinator, Ceyuan Ventures and Fenway Summer Ventures.
Bloomberg Beta returned for a September 2016 series B round that raised $65m and valued Flexport at $365m, and which also featured Founders Fund, Susa Ventures, Felicis Ventures, First Round Capital and angel investors Yuri Milner and Joe Lonsdale.