AUSTIN, Texas – February 5, 2014 – Online freight marketplace uShip today announced Internet travel marketplace, ecommerce and retail finance veteran Bob Bearden has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Over the past 20 years, Bearden has served as CFO of Hotels.com, Expedia.com Global Operations, Travelocity.com and IntentMedia.com. In addition, he has also held a senior finance position at truckloadsusa.com and a corporate development role at SABRE.
In this newly-created position, Bearden will oversee uShip’s strategic financial planning, debt/equity financing, operational financing, budgeting, forecasting and capital investments, as well as the company’s accounting team.
Since uShip launched in 2003, the company’s strategy, analytics, reporting, accounting and human resources functions have been overseen by co-founder and Executive Vice President Jay Manickam. With Bearden taking over the finance and accounting role, Manickam will spend more dedicated time on marketplace analysis and pricing strategy as uShip continues evolving its fixed-price commercial freight business. Manickam will also continue to oversee human resources.
“Bob’s financial background with technology, marketing, retailing, transportation, operations and sales make him the ideal CFO for uShip as we continue to evolve and mature as a marketplace business,” said Matt Chasen, CEO and founder of uShip. “His insights, experience and guidance gained with other market-making companies such as Hotels.com, Expedia.com will be invaluable as many mirror uShip’s marketplace and pricing model.”
“The uShip team has done a terrific job of building a leading product over the past decade, a platform that brings greater efficiencies to the transportation ecosystem and value to the supply chain,” said Bearden. “As an industry that’s been void of true innovation for several decades, transportation is ready for its disruptive marketplace, just as the travel industry was years ago. I’m looking forward to having a hand in uShip’s success as it creates a better shipping experience for all its stakeholders.”
Bearden earned his MBA in Finance and Information Systems Management from the University of Texas at Austin in 1994. Learn more about Bearden’s background on his LinkedIn page: http://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbearden
About uShip
uShip is the global transport marketplace that’s reinventing the traditional logistics process. By moving it entirely online and to mobile devices, it brings greater automation, transparency and efficiency to the traditionally inefficient shipping industry. Primarily serving the commercial freight, vehicles, and household goods markets, the uShip freight exchange seamlessly connects shipping customers – from freight brokers to business shippers and consumers – with feedback-rated transportation service providers that engage in online fixed price, spot market and auction-based transactions. Based in Austin, Texas, and Amsterdam, the company operates globally with localized sites in 19 countries and regions on six continents. It is backed by Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, and is featured on “Shipping Wars,” the real-life television series broadcast worldwide. http://www.uship.com
