Flexport

Venture

Flexport May Be Forcing Job Cuts Once More

Flexport, a logistics company with $2.7 billion in venture and debt funding, is reportedly planning additional layoffs. Flexport, which provides freight forwarding and brokerage services, announced similar cuts in October, when founder Ryan Petersen returned as CEO and slashed the company’s workforce by 20% — affecting about 600 workers. An additional round of layoffs at Flexport would cap a brutal January for tech workers, as giants and startups alike have eliminated a combined tens of thousands of jobs across the industry. While San Francisco-based Flexport wouldn’t be an outlier for making cuts, the timing would be peculiar. Just last week, Flexport said it’d raised an additional $260 million in funding from Shopify.

Dylan Williams
January 26, 2024

Startups, Transportation

“Shopify Powers Flexport’s Growth, Kia EV9 Takes the Driver’s Seat, and Amazon’s Strategic Investments”

This week, read about Amazon, EV startup Fisker, electric boats, a bunch of new funding deals and my time driving the all-new Kia EV9. Remember Lordstown Motors, the EV startup that went public via a SPAC and has since filed for bankruptcy protection? Steve Burns, who founded and was then ousted from Lordstown Motors, is back with a new EV startup called LandX Motors. Northvolt, the Swedish battery startup, secured a $5 billion debt deal to help pay for the expansion of its first gigafactory. The Kia EV9 comes in five trims with the cheapest — the rear-wheel drive EV9 Light — starting at $54,900.