Flexe
Unicorn · $1BSeattle, US · Founded 2013 · Delaware corporation · 10 known investors
Flexe provides platform-based warehousing network management, handling implementation, onboarding, and operations across multiple locations for customers seeking to scale their logistics infrastructure.
Also known as Flexe, Inc.
Founders & leadership
Flexe was founded in 2013 by Karl Siebrecht, Edmond Yue, and Francis Duong.
Board
Investors · 10
Also in the syndicate · 2
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$206.2M disclosed across 5 of 7 rounds · 2015–2022
▶$67.9MraisedApr 2022 · 33 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- ROBERT SPEITHDirector
- RAJ ATLURUDirector
- KARL SIEBRECHTExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- HASSAN NATHAExecutive Officer
- MICHAEL GALGONDirector
- DIANNE RANDOLPHDirector
- Offering amount
- $150M
- Amount sold
- $67.9M
- First sale
- Apr 2022
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$80MraisedJan 2021 · 41 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Ryan SarverDirector
- Edmond YueDirector
- Mike Karl GalgonDirector
- Karl SiebrechtExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Raj AtluruDirector
- Offering amount
- $80M
- Amount sold
- $80M
- First sale
- Nov 2020
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$39.5MraisedMay 2019 · 10 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- RYAN SARVERDirector
- Raj AtluruDirector
- EDMOND YUEExecutive Officer, Director
- FRANCIS DUONGExecutive Officer
- KARL SIEBRECHTExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- MIKE GALGONDirector
- Offering amount
- $43M
- Amount sold
- $39.5M
- First sale
- Mar 2019
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$14.3MraisedJul 2016 · 5 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- KARL SIEBRECHTExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- FRANCIS DUONGExecutive Officer
- EDMOND YUEDirector
- MIKE GALGONDirector
- RYAN SARVERDirector
- Offering amount
- $15.6M
- Amount sold
- $14.3M
- First sale
- Jul 2016
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2013
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$4.4MraisedNov 2015 · 22 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Edmond YueDirector
- Karl SiebrechtExecutive Officer, Director
- Mike GalgonDirector
- Francis DuongDirector
- Offering amount
- $4.4M
- Amount sold
- $4.4M
- First sale
- Nov 2015
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2013
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Valuation · disclosed
Disclosed eventsSource: SEC prospectus filings, and round valuations the company or its investors disclosed — follow each entry's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Flexe is a Seattle-based logistics company that offers what it calls Flexible Warehousing Infrastructure: tech-enabled warehouse services that let enterprises add or remove warehouse capacity without long-term leases. A single technology integration gives shippers access to a network the company describes as 800+ warehouse operators and 3,000+ facilities across the U.S. and Canada, with capacity marketed as fractionalized space priced transactionally so customers pay only for what they use (sources 0, 2, 3).
The company's offering spans three solution areas — eCommerce fulfillment, retail distribution and network capacity — supported by the Flexe Technology Platform, which manages daily operations at every warehouse in the network and combines inventory, order and warehouse management in a single integration used by both the operator and the shipper, plus performance analytics. Flexe also maintains an operations organization that handles onboarding and SLA compliance, and a self-serve product called Flexe Discover for warehouse search, savings estimation and market research (sources 0, 2, 3).
Alongside its core services, Flexe publishes market intelligence, including the Spot Warehousing Index, a proprietary benchmark for on-demand warehousing rates built on a decade of internal bid data combined with third-party indices, and a Market Insights Report covering vacancy rates, site costs, U.S. industrial leasing data and Logistics Managers' Index trends (sources 0, 3).
Founding story
Flexe was founded in 2013 and, per CEO Karl Siebrecht, created the on-demand warehousing category by linking shippers to underused third-party warehouse space through software. Founders initially expected demand from small companies unable to afford their own leases, but the customer base shifted toward Fortune 1000 enterprises and high-growth etailers. The company's premise is that 20-30% of U.S. warehouse space sits unused at any time, largely because long-term leases force companies to size for future growth and peak demand (sources 5, 7).
Business model
Flexe intermediates between shippers needing warehouse capacity and a screened network of third-party warehouse operators. Customers buy services rather than square footage — for example managing a stated number of pallets with defined inbound and outbound volumes — under transactional, pay-as-you-go pricing with no leases or fixed-term agreements. Operators supply the facilities and labor and assume liability for losses or damages occurring in their facilities, while both sides transact on Flexe's software (sources 0, 3, 7).
Transactional pricing for warehousing and handling services in place of long-term leases; the company positions this as converting fixed logistics costs into variable spend and markets a savings calculator comparing a pay-as-you-go model with rigid long-term leases (sources 0, 2, 3).
Traction
Company-reported figures include 3,000+ active warehouses, 800+ operators, 605M+ square feet of available capacity, average go-live under 30 days and 90M units shipped per month. In July 2022 the company said it added nearly as many enterprise customers in the first six months of 2022 as in all of the prior year. A 2018 interview cited a network of more than 900 warehouse providers at the time. LinkedIn indicated more than 400 employees before the September 2023 layoffs (sources 0, 3, 5, 6, 7).
Latest developments
Flexe's current positioning centers on Flexible Warehousing Infrastructure, the Flexe Discover self-serve platform, and the Spot Warehousing Index, which the company said it would present at Reuters Supply Chain USA 2026 amid what it termed "warehousing stagflation." Its published index showed a spot rate of $13.35 per pallet per month, average national vacancy of 4.2% and demand intensity rated High (sources 0, 3, 5).
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Flexe describes itself as North America's largest flexible warehousing network and as the creator of the "on-demand warehousing" category in 2013, later positioning itself as a "programmatic logistics" and "Flexible Warehousing Infrastructure" provider. A BlackRock executive quoted in the 2022 Series D announcement described the company as a category creator. Flexe cites the logistics and supply chain industry it targets as $1.6 trillion in size. It reached a $1 billion-plus valuation in 2022, making it one of Seattle's few unicorns, and won Next Tech Titan honors at the GeekWire Awards in May 2023 (sources 2, 4, 5, 6).
Asset-light access to a large multi-operator network through one integration, transactional pricing with no leases or location constraints, operator screening including site visits and ongoing quality metrics, dedicated Logistics Analysts per shipper, and proprietary spot-rate market data (the Spot Warehousing Index) that benchmarks actual transaction rates rather than asking rents (sources 0, 3).
Technology
The Flexe Technology Platform runs daily operations across network warehouses, unifying inventory, order and warehouse management into one integration for operator and shipper, with performance analytics. It integrates with any system of record via API, standard EDI protocols or XML, with manual CSV data sharing available; the website cites 20+ integration pathways. Inventory is tracked by License Plate Number for pallets and by SKU and quantity for floor-loaded cartons, with receiving audits and cycle counts. Flexe Discover is a self-serve search, pricing and market-insights layer powered by a proprietary data engine and real-time market feeds (sources 0, 3).
Go-to-market
Direct enterprise sales supported by self-serve tools (warehouse search, pricing estimator, savings calculator) on Flexe Discover, plus content marketing through articles, a monthly Market Insights Report and the publicly available Spot Warehousing Index. The company also presents at industry events, including a stated appearance at Reuters Supply Chain USA 2026 (sources 0, 3, 5).
Enterprise shippers, including Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 retailers and brands, and high-growth online retailers. Stated industries served are retail, consumer goods, food and beverage, and industrial and manufacturing. As of July 2022 the company said six of the ten largest retailers and four of the five largest consumer packaged goods companies worked with Flexe; Ace Hardware has been cited as a client (sources 2, 3, 5, 7).
Geography
Headquartered in Seattle, with a warehouse network spanning major markets across the United States and Canada (sources 2, 3, 5).
History
Founded in 2013 in Seattle. In December 2020 Flexe announced a $70M Series C, extended in January 2021 with a $10M follow-on to bring the round to $80M. In July 2022 it announced a $119M Series D at a post-money valuation above $1 billion, with new investment from BlackRock-managed funds and follow-on from existing investors. Longtime CTO David Glick stepped down in January 2023, and the company won Next Tech Titan at the GeekWire Awards in May 2023. In September 2023, amid a freight-market slowdown, Flexe laid off 33% of its workforce, with a Washington state WARN filing showing 131 layoffs. The company subsequently repositioned around "Flexible Warehousing Infrastructure" and launched market-intelligence products including the Spot Warehousing Index and the Flexe Discover platform (sources 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Risks & controversies
Flexe cut 33% of its workforce in September 2023 during a freight-industry slowdown, with a state WARN filing recording 131 layoffs; GeekWire noted the same downturn affected other logistics startups. The CEO had previously said the company needed to manage its Series D cash carefully given market uncertainty. Longtime CTO David Glick departed in January 2023 (source 6).
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 4
by search overlap
Companies competing with Flexe for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 7
launches, deals, and filingsFlexe announced it would present its Spot Warehousing Index, a proprietary benchmark for on-demand warehousing rates, at Reuters Supply Chain USA 2026.
Flexe confirmed layoffs affecting 33% of its staff amid a freight-industry slowdown; a Washington state WARN filing showed 131 layoffs.
Flexe's former longtime chief technology officer David Glick stepped down in January 2023.
Flexe announced a $119 million Series D at a post-money valuation above $1 billion, with new investment from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and follow-on from Activate Capital, Madrona Ventures, Prologis Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price entities and Tiger Global.
$119M source ↗
Flexe announced a $10 million follow-on investment, bringing the Series C round to $80 million.
$10M source ↗
Flexe announced $70 million in Series C funding to expand its team, technology platform and warehouse operator network.
$70M source ↗
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
Legal entities · 1
corporate structureIn the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Flexeflexe.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Flexe do?
- Flexe operates a North American on-demand warehousing network and technology platform sold to enterprise shippers.
- Who founded Flexe?
- Flexe was founded by Karl Siebrecht, Edmond Yue, Francis Duong in 2013.
- Who are Flexe's investors?
- Flexe's investors include 137 Ventures, Acequia Capital (AceCap), ACTIVATE CAPITAL PARTNERS, Madrona Venture Group, Redpoint Ventures, Second Avenue Partners, Pioneer Square Ventures, Prologis Ventures.
- How much funding has Flexe raised?
- Flexe has disclosed $206.2M raised across 5 of its 7 known rounds.
- Where is Flexe headquartered?
- Flexe is headquartered in Seattle, US.