Convoy, the US trucking software company which has been backed by the likes of Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, will be shutting down after failing to find a buyer during a fourth-month search.
Dan Lewis, the Seattle-based firm’s chief executive officer, told employees on Thursday: “Today is your last day at the company.
“Following an exhaustive process, spanning many, many months during which we explored all viable strategic options for the business, the result is where we are today. Convoy is closing the doors on its current core business operations and exploring and evaluating strategic options for what might come next.”
Having been described as the Uber for trucking, the start-up reached a valuation of US$3.8 billion last year and at one point had 1,500 staff members.
However, poor macroeconomic conditions which involved a “massive freight recession” and a shrinking of the capital markets meant earlier this month the group was forced to slash its workforce to 500 as it warned it would run out of cash in the coming weeks.
Convoy raised more than US$1 billion from investors during its existence, including US investment group Allen & Co, which bought shares in the company for a minor fee back when the group was worth less than US$60 million.
Other angel investors included Amazon chairman Bezos, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Salesforce boss Marc Benioff, with Microsoft founder Gates developing a stake at a later stage along with an Alphabet-owned venture group and former US vice president Al Gore’s investment firm.
Allen & Co has likely come out as the clear winner though, after the capital markets group sold all its shares in Convoy during a time when it was being valued at US$3.8 billion.