Andrew Huff and Oliver Jones, co-founders of Manifold Freight, are continuing to work on developing software for the trucking industry. The two entrepreneurs were previously engineering leaders at Convoy, a digital trucking marketplace company that experienced a significant collapse. After Convoy sold its assets to Flexport, Huff and Jones wasted no time in starting their own startup venture. Manifold Freight focuses on spot freight, which refers to one-off shipments that can be picked up by carriers.
The company’s software aggregates spot freight opportunities for carriers, particularly medium-to-large carriers that own their trucks. Traditionally, carriers work with multiple brokers or use public load boards to find shipments, often having to pay a significant cut of the shipment price to these intermediaries. Manifold Freight generates revenue by charging carriers a fee to use their software, based on the size of their fleet. The company also aims to build tools for shippers to help them find freight capacity, with the overall vision of creating a comprehensive spot marketplace for shippers, brokers, and carriers.
Despite similarities to Convoy, Manifold Freight operates differently by not assuming the risk of each load. While Convoy would take on the responsibility of each load and try to find carriers to match with shippers, Manifold Freight simply enables carriers, brokers, and shippers to connect on their marketplace for a fee, without taking responsibility for the load. Jones, an early Convoy engineer who eventually became director of engineering, and Huff, who was an engineering manager at Convoy, believe that their experience at Convoy gives them a competitive advantage over other industry players.
Convoy, which raised nearly a billion dollars from top investors, including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, served major Fortune 500 companies before running into financial trouble in 2022. The company ultimately sold its assets to Flexport. Utilizing their experience at Convoy, Huff and Jones aim to leverage their knowledge and expertise to navigate the competitive landscape of the trucking industry and build a successful software platform with Manifold Freight. The startup has raised initial funding from Y Combinator and is in the process of raising its seed round while focusing on developing its platform to serve carriers, brokers, and shippers in the spot freight marketplace.
