Ryan Petersen is an American businessman best known as the founder and CEO of Flexport, a technology-driven company focused on freight forwarding and supply chain management. Founded in 2013, Flexport utilizes technology to streamline international freight shipping, customs, and tracking for businesses. By 2022, Flexport had reached an $8 billion valuation, and had moved over $26 billion of merchandise. Petersen gained attention in 2021 for sharing proposals on Twitter to address shipping backlogs at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, even reaching California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Before Flexport, Petersen co-founded ImportGenius in 2006, a provider of transaction data for the global trade industry. In addition to his role at Flexport, Petersen has been a venture partner at Founders Fund since 2023. He holds a BA from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
