dave clark Amazon‘s former CEO of Global Consumer, who briefly led logistics company Flexport, is returning to the startup world.

Clark launched a new venture Tuesday called Auger that aims to help companies and governments combine the hodgepodge of “Franken software” that oversees their supply chains into a single platform.

“At Flexport, I saw all these companies in the middle, like the Nikes or Lululemons, and I was amazed at how hard it is, and how much they’re still using Excel or Smartsheet or Tableau or something like that. All this disparate data in such a way.” one way that they can do something,” Clark said in an interview. “A shocking part of the supply chain is still running on Excel.”

Clark’s third act follows a short but tumultuous stint at Flexport. Last September, Clark abruptly resigned as CEO of Flexport, allowing the return of founder Ryan Petersen. Petersen repeatedly claimed that Clark spent too much money and hired too much during his time at the trucking startup. But documents reviewed by CNBC and sources close to Clark showed that Petersen and members of Flexport’s board of directors helped implement decisions that Flexport has suggested were unwise. Petersen has since taken steps to turn around the company by overhauling top positions, implementing layoffs and subleasing excess warehouse space.

Before joining Flexport, Clark developed a legendary reputation as the architect of its massive logistics network during his 23 years at Amazon. He joined Amazon’s operations division in 1999 and quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the company’s top executives. In 2020, Amazon tapped Clark to lead its core retail business after Jeff Wilke, the company’s former president, left the company. Clark left Amazon for Flexport in 2022.

Clark joined Flexport to bring what he built at Amazon to “small businesses and other businesses around the world.” He left the startup feeling there was still a gap in the market for supply chain tools, and started developing the idea behind Auger. The name is meant to convey the drilling tool’s ability to break through things and dive deep.

“Over the past year, I’ve had a chance to really take a step back and think about the best way to approach this problem,” Clark said. “What do I want to do now? Do I still want to try to address this problem? Do I want to do something different? And I kept coming back to this: This shouldn’t be a problem for companies with the technology in place. the world.”

He said a typical company has “eight to 10 to 12 to 20” systems for purchasing, forecasting and enterprise resource planning. The systems can be clunky and are rarely integrated. He wanted to build a platform where companies could manage their supply chains with “the same level of simplicity and intuitiveness as the consumer applications they use every day.”

Clark, who moved to Texas with his family before leaving Amazon, has returned to his former employer’s backyard in Seattle to work on the new venture, which will be based in Bellevue, Washington. He hopes to draw from the deep bank of technical talent in the region.

Amazon rolled out its own supply chain management platform last year, which can handle the process of moving company goods from the manufacturer to the customer’s door. But the service is aimed at companies that sell on Amazon’s marketplace and use its logistics and fulfillment network.

Auger’s launch comes as the volume of venture deals has steadily declined in recent years, excluding investments in artificial intelligence companies. According to an August 29 report from PitchBook, the exit value of US venture capital is expected to reach $98 billion this year, down 86% from 2021, while venture capital-backed IPOs are expected to reach the lowest level since 2016.

Venture capital activity in the supply chain technology industry has shown improvement recently, although it is well below 2021 and 2022 levels. Global investment in this space reached $2.4 billion, marking the third consecutive quarter of growth, according to Pitchbook.

Auger has raised $100 million from venture capital firm Oak HC/FT. Clark said he soon expects to grow the workforce to about 20 employees and plans to launch a “V1” product within nine months.

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