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Though brick-and-mortar giants like Walmart are still scrambling to keep up with Amazon's distribution capabilities, one warehousing startup believes it has what it takes to rival the e-commerce king.
Seattle-based Flexe, which provides warehouse storage space for e-tailers, is entering the overnight delivery business. The company, known in the industry as the Airbnb of warehousing, has amassed a portfolio of storage space within 550 warehouses across the country in the four years since its inception. So far it has accumulated 25M SF of storage space — roughly 25% of Amazon's total storage space— and plans to boost its portfolio by 10M SF this year.
By offering overnight delivery services, Flexe will aid e-commerce players in expanding their delivery capabilities by storing products closer to customers. This will also limit the need for plane deliveries since products will be dispersed all over the country, Bloomberg reports.
Last July Flexe, owned by Karl Siebrecht, Francis Duong and Edmond Yue, raised $14.25M in Series A funding led by Redpoint Ventures, bringing its total funding raised to $20M. Flexe clients include mattress seller Casper and apparel brand Toms, which used Flexe's services to expand its pop-up store distribution beyond the West Coast during the holidays.
CORRECTION, MAY 15, 11:11 A.M. ET: An earlier version of the article misnamed the owners of Flexe and has been updated.
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