Understand any stock in simple English
Enter a ticker to learn what the company does and how it makes money.
Flexport, Inc.
Flexport is a freight forwarder that moves goods across oceans and borders for companies, making money by charging for shipping and logistics services.
Flexport is a freight forwarder — a company that arranges the shipping of goods for other businesses. If you make sneakers in Vietnam and sell them in the US, you hire Flexport to book the ship, handle customs paperwork, and track the container. It serves everyone from small online sellers to big brands, and it makes money by charging fees on each shipment, plus add-on services like cargo insurance and customs brokerage. Think of it as the travel agent for cargo: it doesn't own the ships or planes, it just organizes the trip and takes a cut.
The company's pitch is software. Traditional freight forwarding runs on email, spreadsheets, and phone calls, and shippers often have no idea where their stuff is. Flexport built a platform where customers can book, track, and manage shipments online, and it layers in financing and analytics. That tech-first approach attracted big investors and made Flexport one of the most valuable logistics startups, though the freight market is cyclical and the company has had a rocky stretch — including layoffs, a brief and messy attempt to absorb Shopify's logistics arm, and the return of founder Ryan Petersen as CEO after a short-lived successor.
Flexport is privately held and based in San Francisco, founded in 2013 by Petersen, who started it after running an importing business and getting frustrated by how opaque shipping was. It's a bet that the boring, enormous business of moving physical goods can be run more like software — and it makes its money one container at a time.
Saved answer · last researched 17 Oct 2026