Check Call: Long live Convoy
In a striking move, digital freight forwarder Flexport has sold the core Convoy technology platform it acquired in late 2023 to DAT Freight & Analytics for approximately $250 million, less than two years after buying it for roughly $16 million . The transaction marks a dramatic return on a modest investment and highlights shifting strategic priorities within the logistics sector.
When Flexport originally acquired Convoy’s assets following the Seattle‑based brokerage’s collapse, the goal was preservation: to rescue the underlying technology and relaunch it as a neutral digital execution layer for shippers, brokers, and carriers . Over the subsequent 18 months, the platform was rebuilt, onboarding tens of thousands of carriers, reengaging brokers, and demonstrating its value as a broadly accessible freight execution infrastructure.
John Kingston wrote in his FreightWaves article, “What we realized is that a neutral platform is not neutral,” Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport said. “We have a brokerage. We’re a massive freight forwarding company.” The combination, he said, raised questions in the industry about whether the Convoy platform truly could be seen as neutral.
For DAT, the acquisition expands its offerings beyond its signature load board. It will join DAT’s recent acquisitions, including visibility provider Trucker Tools and payment startup Outgo, to give users an expanded suite of tools. DAT is offering the Convoy platform with zero upfront cost; users pay only transactional fees, lowering barriers to adoption and likely prompting demand to outpace onboarding capacity
Flexport, for its part, will continue to operate its residual digital brokerage business, which processes roughly 100,000 loads annually (98% mechanically executed). It remains DAT’s largest customer on the platform from day one, underpinning a continued commercial link between the two firms.
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