Flexport’s revenue fell nearly 70% in the first half of the year to $700 million and the company burned through cash, people familiar with the company’s financials said. The decline shows how the SoftBank- and Andreessen Horowitz-backed logistics startup’s performance has been deteriorating rapidly amid a broader freight market collapse.
The plunge underlines the cyclical nature of businesses like Flexport, and the drop was taking place as recently ousted CEO Dave Clark took the reins full time at the company. Most of Flexport’s revenue comes from its freight forwarding business, which takes a percentage of the costs of ocean and air shipping services Flexport arranges on behalf of its customers. Ocean shipping rates soared in late 2021 and early 2022, but have since fallen dramatically as supply chain bottlenecks lessened and consumer demand has slowed.
