Creating a startup in direct competition with a former employer carries inherent risks, as demonstrated by the experience of a former chip design executive from Apple, who faced legal action after founding his own chip startup. That lawsuit was eventually dropped in 2023.
A similar situation has emerged in the logistics sector, involving Flexport and a new contender, Freightmate AI, founded by two former Flexport employees. Flexport has initiated legal proceedings against the individuals, alleging the theft of thousands of documents and critical source code to establish their competing enterprise.
Both companies focus on utilizing technology to streamline logistics and shipping processes. Flexport alleges that Yingwei Zhao, now Freightmate’s COO, downloaded over 70,000 confidential documents from Flexport after deciding to partner with Bryan Lacaillade, the current CEO of Freightmate, to form the new venture. These allegations were detailed in a lawsuit filed in a California court.
The lawsuit claims Zhao attempted to cover his actions by using Incognito Mode to copy a list of over 1,000 Flexport clients and allegedly transferred Flexport’s source code from Github onto a USB drive. Freightmate has acknowledged possessing some files from Flexport but insists these were inadvertently retained and never accessed or used, according to the lawsuit.
Both companies have refrained from commenting on the matter, with Flexport declining requests for statements and Freightmate not responding to inquiries.
Flexport contends that the growth recently claimed by Freightmate would have been nearly unattainable without the purportedly misappropriated information. As a result, Flexport seeks unspecified damages and an injunction to prevent Freightmate from using the alleged stolen data.
Based in San Francisco, Flexport was valued at $8 billion following a funding round in 2022 and recently secured $260 million from Shopify at an undisclosed valuation in 2023.
Freightmate, located near Seattle, raised $5 million in a seed round in January 2025, led by Fuse Capital, a Washington state VC firm. The company’s pre-seed round, with an undisclosed amount, was led by Winschoff Ventures.
