Startup courier Gofo acquires Cirro E-commerce for access to retailers

Gofo said it will retain Cirro E-commerce’s executive team and named Vincent D’Amata, who headed sales for Cirro, as chief sales officer, U.S. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In October, Cirro added Gofo to the list of last-mile carriers available to retailers using its shipping platform. 

Gofo made the acquisition announcement from Manifest, a large supply chain conference held in Las Vegas, where it is promoting itself to shippers.

Gofo was founded in 2023 by Chuan Zheng, a U.S. citizen of Chinese heritage with extensive experience in logistics and cross-border e-commerce, who previously formed a company called Ebisu. 

A significant share of historical volume has come from e-commerce merchants linked to China, but the U.S. business is rapidly expanding its presence among North American retailers and smaller online sellers. International parcels are customs cleared by partner companies, but the majority of shipments originate from U.S. domestic warehouses. The courier’s operations, leadership and decision-making are centered in the United States.

Gofo has rapidly expanded its logistics foundation across the United States with more than 120 hubs and stations supported by 95 long linehaul routes, as well as regional routes. It currently has more than 1,200 full-time employees and uses delivery service partners to provide physical last-mile delivery. 

The market impact of the Cirro deal is relatively small considering that Gofo only delivered 100 million packages last year — a fifth of what FedEx moves in a month.

Gofo recently said it processed over 60 million parcels during peak season — Thanksgiving to Christmas — with a sortation capacity of 3 million parcels per day during the busiest stretch. Its network remained stable, with a 99% delivery success rate, despite the surge in volume. 

Gofo in October opened super hubs in Newark, New Jersey, and Los Angeles ahead of the peak shipping season. In addition to the $150 million investment, Gofo operates more than 100 automated hubs and stations and a U.S. line-haul network with more than 30 routes. Its delivery service, which provides next-day delivery around major hubs and three-to-five day delivery across states and regions, is available in 49 of the top 50 markets, according to the company. 

The company also increased its app-based independent driver workforce by 30% year over year to ensure smooth operations. Gofo operates 1,500 self-owned and partner-operated vehicles, including 26-foot and 53-foot trucks that form the backbone of its nationwide network. Gofo said trucks achieved 99.5% on-time pick score and met service level agreements 95% to 99% of the time. Long-haul trucks carried up to 16,000 parcels. 

Retailers are increasingly turning from legacy parcel carriers FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service, to smaller, independent providers that offer much lower rates. Many of the new carriers are investing millions of dollars to build regional and national networks, raising questions about how long they can sustain that growth.

(Correction: The story has been updated with more current figures for Gofo’s hubs, routes and employees. The figures mentioned previously were lower.)

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.

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