Flexe is raising more cash as investors continue betting big on logistics startups

Seattle startup Flexe is raising more cash to bolster its marketplace used by retailers to purchase on-demand warehousing space.

A new SEC filing reveals that the company has raised $67.9 million of a larger round. The company declined to comment on the filing when reached by GeekWire.

Supply chain management startups set a record for funding last year as their software helped companies that were scrambling amid volatility caused by the pandemic. Flexe has also seen huge tailwinds from the acceleration of online sales during the pandemic.

Just earlier Thursday, Seattle digital freight startup Convoy announced a $260 million round at a $3.8 billion valuation.

Flexe last raised cash in late 2020, bringing in $80 million as part of a Series C round.

Founded in 2013, Flexe describes itself as a “warehousing-as-a-service” company, helping retailers turn what was traditionally a fixed expenditure into a variable cost. Its customers don’t need to invest millions into long-term warehouse leases; they just pay for what they need at a given time.

It’s similar to how pay-as-you-go cloud computing services such as AWS or Azure replaced the need for a company to purchase and run their own data centers.

“Traditional warehousing is a lot like traditional data centers,” Flexe CEO Karl Siebrecht previously told GeekWire.

Flexe also gives companies a way to move inventory closer to where customers live, reducing delivery times. That’s important as Amazon continues to make 1- and 2-day delivery the industry standard.

“Measure the impact of same-day delivery on revenue across different regions, expand into new markets, and compete directly with Amazon without the risk of fixed investments,” the company notes on its website.

Siebrecht, previously an executive at aQuantive and AdReady, co-founded the company with Edmond Yue and Francis Duong after they attended a housewarming party and met an entrepreneur who complained about finding warehouse space for his barware company. Siebrecht is a finalist for CEO of the Year at the GeekWire Awards.

Flexe employs 450 people. Its previous investors include T. Rowe Price, Activate Capital, Tiger Global, Madrona Venture Group, Redpoint Ventures, Prologis Ventures, and others.

Other logistics and e-commerce software startups from the Seattle region that have raised funding over the past few years include Shipium, Logixboard, Stackline, Fabric, FlavorCloud, Pipe17, Pandion, and SoundCommerce.