Flexport: What It Does, Who Runs It, Funding and News
Flexport is a privately held freight forwarder and customs broker that sells software alongside the shipping: it moves goods by air, ocean, truck and rail, clears customs, runs fulfillment and lends to its customers. Ryan Petersen founded it in 2013 and is its CEO. It is based in San Francisco and was part of Y Combinator's Winter 2014 batch.
Flexport is a San Francisco logistics company that books and manages international shipments for businesses and gives them software to track and plan that freight. Its Y Combinator profile calls it a "platform for global logistics"; on its own site Flexport describes a platform that combines freight, customs, fulfillment and financing. The company is private, and its last published valuation, from February 2022, was $8 billion.
This page covers Flexport's key facts, its services, who leads it, its funding history and its news from 2025 and 2026.
Flexport key facts
Detail | Source | |
|---|---|---|
Founded | 2013 | |
Founder and CEO | Ryan Petersen (CEO again since September 2023) | |
Headquarters | San Francisco, California | |
Accelerator | Y Combinator, Winter 2014 | |
Employees | 3,000, as listed on YC's page (undated) | |
Customers | More than 13,000 companies (2026) | |
Funding | More than $2.2 billion in equity by February 2022, plus a $260 million convertible note from Shopify in January 2024 | |
Last published valuation | $8 billion post-money (February 2022) | |
Status | Private; an IPO is likely within five years, the CEO said in February 2026 | |
Website |
Customer counts differ by page. Flexport's September 2026 fulfillment announcement says more than 13,000 companies, and its About page says 13,000 brands, while the company description at the end of its July and September 2026 hiring announcements says more than 10,000 brands. Country counts differ too: those hiring announcements say Flexport shipped to 135 countries in 2025, and TIME's profile, quoted by Flexport in April 2026, says 147.
What Flexport does
Flexport arranges freight for importers and exporters and handles the customs paperwork, then adds software and money on top. Its About page lists these services:
- Freight forwarding by ocean, air and trucking; the company's announcements add rail.
- Customs brokerage, including a Customs Technology Suite for managing tariffs.
- Fulfillment for online sellers, which grew with the 2023 purchase of Shopify's logistics business, including Deliverr and about 3 million square feet of warehouse space (FreightWaves).
- Trade finance and cargo insurance. Flexport Capital, its lending arm, started in 2017 and had provided more than $2 billion in financing by August 2025 (Transport Topics).
- Software: the Flexport Platform, Control Tower, Flexport AI and Flexport MCP.
The About page says Flexport has moved more than $175 billion in goods since it started and lists 60 locations, including offices and warehouses. Its customers range from small brands to Fortune 500 companies, the company says. CEO Ryan Petersen told TIME that "pretty much the entire Fortune 500" uses its free Tariff Simulator, according to Flexport's TIME100 post.
Who runs Flexport
Ryan Petersen founded Flexport and is its CEO; YC lists him as the only founder. In 2022 Dave Clark, a former Amazon executive, joined as co-CEO; he became sole CEO on March 1, 2023 (FreightWaves). Clark left in September 2023, and Petersen, who had joined venture firm Founders Fund as a partner that July, returned as CEO (Transport Topics).
Name | Role | Source |
|---|---|---|
Ryan Petersen | Founder and CEO | |
Stuart Leung | Chief Financial Officer (in that role by August 2025) | |
Daniel Sanvicente | Senior Vice President, Asia-Pacific | |
Rick Tang | General Manager, Greater China (appointed July 2026) | |
Zoe Chan | General Manager, Singapore and Malaysia (appointed September 2026) |
Flexport funding history
Flexport's two big disclosed equity rounds were a SoftBank-led Series D in 2019 and a Series E co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and MSD Partners in 2022. Before 2019, TechCrunch counted $305 million raised across five rounds, citing Crunchbase.
Round | Date | Amount and valuation | Investors named |
|---|---|---|---|
Series D | February 21, 2019 | $1 billion; $3.2 billion post-money, as reported by Forbes | Led by SoftBank Vision Fund, with Founders Fund, DST Global, Cherubic Ventures, Susa Ventures and SF Express (TechCrunch) |
Series E | February 7, 2022 | $935 million at $8 billion post-money | Co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and MSD Partners, with SoftBank Vision Fund 1, Shopify, DST Global, Founders Fund and Kevin Kwok (Global Venturing, SiliconANGLE) |
Shopify logistics deal | Completed June 6, 2023 | Shopify received a 13% equity stake and a board seat in exchange for its logistics business | Shopify (FreightWaves) |
Convertible note | January 19, 2024 | $260 million, uncapped; no valuation disclosed | Shopify (FreightWaves) |
Flexport said its 2021 revenue more than doubled to $3.2 billion, according to SiliconANGLE. Separately, in August 2025 Flexport agreed with funds and accounts managed by BlackRock to provide $250 million in financing to its customers, which doubled Flexport Capital's lending capacity, CFO Stuart Leung said (Transport Topics). That money is lent to customers and is not an investment in Flexport.
Flexport news, 2025 to 2026
- 2025 to April 2026: Flexport opened offices in Indonesia and Mexico and says it launched more than 55 AI and technology products in the year to April 2026, including its Customs Technology Suite (Flexport).
- August 27, 2025: The $250 million customer financing arrangement with BlackRock-managed funds (Transport Topics).
- February 15, 2026: In an interview, Petersen said Flexport is targeting about 30% revenue growth in 2026, expects it to make the business profitable, and is likely to go public within five years (STAT Times).
- February 26, 2026: A set of AI agents and tools, including one that audits past customs entries for errors, a calculator for possible refund claims on tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a container consolidation agent and Flexport Atlas, a map of ocean shipping networks (Flexport's release, distributed by AAP, Flexport Winter 2026 release).
- April 30, 2026: Named to TIME's 2026 TIME100 Most Influential Companies list; TIME said Flexport's net revenue is nearly four times its 2023 level (Flexport).
- July 2026: Rick Tang named General Manager of Greater China (Flexport).
- September 2, 2026: First fulfillment operations outside the U.S., in Mississauga, Canada, and two partner-run sites in Manchester, England, with continental Europe planned for 2027 (Flexport).
- September 9, 2026: Zoe Chan named General Manager, Singapore and Malaysia (Flexport).
- September 29, 2026: Flexport's Fall 2026 Technology Release, a live broadcast of new platform features (Flexport).
- 2026: Flexport's About page says its Customs Technology Suite was named one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2026 (Flexport).
Flexport's recent history also includes job cuts. FreightWaves reported that the company cut about 20% of its workforce, roughly 600 people, in October 2023. In February 2026 Petersen said the restructuring that followed was over (STAT Times).
Remember who you met at Flexport
Booking freight through Flexport, pitching its team or interviewing there? On a Mac, Merlin's People panel keeps a list of the contacts you still owe an answer and the ones you haven't heard from in a while, drawn only from your own messages and meetings.
Get MerlinFrequently asked questions
Who founded Flexport?
Ryan Petersen founded Flexport in 2013, and Y Combinator lists him as its only founder. The company went through YC in the Winter 2014 batch.
Who is the CEO of Flexport?
Ryan Petersen. Dave Clark was CEO from March to September 2023, after which Petersen returned to the job.
Is Flexport a public company?
No. Flexport is privately held. In February 2026 Petersen said it is likely to go public within the next five years, without giving a date.
Who owns Flexport?
Flexport is privately held and doesn't publish its shareholder list. Disclosed investors include SoftBank Vision Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, MSD Partners, Founders Fund and DST Global, and Shopify received a 13% stake in 2023.
How much is Flexport worth?
Its last published valuation was $8 billion post-money, set in its $935 million Series E in February 2022. Shopify's $260 million note in January 2024 did not disclose a valuation.