2020 was full of highs and lows, and it’s a year we won’t soon forget. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed logistics operations into the spotlight as businesses and organizations around the world navigated the largest supply chain disruption of modern history. We gained a wealth of valuable experience and learned a ton along the way. In keeping with Flexe tradition, here are 5 top highlights from the past year.
Flexe milestones
- Landing $80M in Series C funding
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a massive shift to online shopping. The eCommerce tailwinds fueled greater demand for dynamic logistics networks, which is a fundamental component of our business model. In part driven by the uptick in demand, we concluded the year by announcing the close of our $80M Series C funding round.
“This new capital enables us to continue growing our team and delivering innovative logistics solutions so our customers can grow and adapt in any environment.” — Karl Siebrecht, Co-founder and CEO
2. Hiring new faces and working in remote places
Like many businesses, we transitioned to a fully remote workforce in 2020. Working from home brought its disruptions and challenges, but we leaned on each other and sought creative solutions to stay close and connected. During that time, we also welcomed a number of new faces to our team, increasing our total headcount by 50+% to more than 170 logistics, technology, and operations professionals.
Finally, we celebrated our first set of 5-year anniversaries (outside of our founders). High FIVE’s to Senior Logistics Manager, Nick Lehman, VP of Marketing, Ryan Morel, and VP of Business Development in Sales, Adrian Grigg.
“Across the board, we have this great team of super talented and passionate people, with great instincts and a passion for the customer.” — Adrian Grigg
3. Giving back with PhilanthroFlexe
Giving back to our community carried a new significance this year as we endured the ongoing health crisis. Despite our physical distance, we worked together to determine how best to support those in need through our company-wide PhilanthroFlexe program. We’re proud of our work with Northwest Harvest and Green Plate Special to help put food on tables for families in the greater Seattle area. We know others share our desire to help, so we compiled a list of great local organizations that need the community’s continued support.
Special shout out to our PhilanthroFlexe committee Deirdre, Jael, John, Kay, and Morgan for organizing this year’s initiatives.
4. Advertising at the point of search
Flexe is a technology company and we stay focused on building out the best technology platform for our customers. As more and more product searches start online, competitive delivery promises are paramount to winning sales. In July, we launched an integration with Google Merchant Center to help retailers and brands promote their free and fast delivery at the point of search.
5.Celebrating award season all year long
We were humbled to receive a number of awards and accolades this year including:
- Business Insider polled the venture capital community last February, and they predicted Flexe was among the hot logistics startups poised to soar in 2020,
- Inbound Logistics included us in their annual list of the Top 100 Logistics IT Providers,
- Deloitte named Flexe on their Fast 500 list for the third consecutive year, ranking us #6 in Washington State and among the top 100 in North America, and
- Puget Sound Business Journal included Flexe among their list of Washington’s 95 Best Workplaces of 2020.
We were especially excited to celebrate our executive team. Supply & Demand Chain Executive recognized Flexe SVP of Operations, Megan Evert, as an exemplary Women in Supply Chain Leader. And our CEO, Karl Siebrecht, earned a finalist spot in GeekWire’s Big Tech CEO of the year award. Speaking of Karl, we’d be remiss if we didn’t echo his favorite mantra, we’re hiring!
“We’re hiring!” — Karl Siebrecht, Co-founder and CEO
We know from our work in logistics that the only constant is change, and we are cautiously optimistic about what’s in store for the year ahead. On behalf of the rapidly growing Flexe team, we wish you a safe and healthy 2021.
