Seattle-based freight network startup Convoy is said to be winding down its core business, with reports emerging Wednesday that the company has paused shipments on its platform.
Industry publication FreightWaves reported Convoy's load board went blank on Wednesday.
A Convoy spokesperson said in an email that the company is "preparing our business for a transition," with more details are expected to come in the next 48 hours. Report include the company planning for major layoffs and a possible sale.
Convoy didn't comment to the Business Journal on whether it had paused its shipments, though The Wall Street Journal reported that the company told staff it would stop accepting shipments indefinitely and would reschedule or cancel existing loads.
Just a year and a half ago, Convoy hit a valuation of $3.8 billion when it raised $260 million between equity funding and venture debt. Since June of last year, however, the company has gone through four rounds of layoffs and closed its Atlanta office as the freight market has cooled.
Convoy, founded in 2015, connects shippers to trucking companies, or carriers, to reduce the number of empty miles truck drivers spend on the road. Trucking companies, meanwhile, can find and bid on loads through Convoy's app. Convoy counts companies like Unilever, The Home Depot and Anheuser-Busch as clients.
Early backers include an array of big names such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and former Starbucks President Howard Behar.
Along with raising $260 million in April of last year, Convoy also secured a $150 million line of credit from J.P. Morgan. Chief Growth Officer Ryan Gavin said at that time the company had roughly 1,300 employees, including more than 800 in Washington. Convoy currently has fewer than 790 employees listed on LinkedIn.
In June, Convoy co-founder Grant Goodale stepped down from his role as chief experience officer to spend more time with his family. He remains on the board at the company and serves as an adviser. Goodale confirmed the move to the Business Journal just days before Convoy's most recent round of layoffs, which affected only the company's customer experience operations team. Convoy had more than 840 employees listed on LinkedIn at the time of the June layoffs.
