Yesler

About Yesler

Yesler was a technology company that developed a B2B marketplace and software platform for the lumber and building materials (LBM) industry. The company was founded in October 2019 by Matt Meyers, who brought two decades of experience from the timber company Weyerhaeuser. He was joined by CTO Jeff Lubetkin, who had experience from Expedia and Zillow, and Executive VP David Helmers, who previously led a $1.5 billion distribution business at Weyerhaeuser. Yesler spun out of the Seattle startup studio Pioneer Square Labs.

The company's mission was to digitize and streamline the traditionally offline LBM supply chain, replacing phone calls and spreadsheets with a unified digital platform. The platform allowed lumber suppliers and buyers, such as lumberyards, to connect, negotiate, and execute transactions more efficiently. Key features included the Yesler Marketplace for trading, Yesler Analytics for inventory planning and replenishment, a Buyer's Network, and market intelligence tools to help users make data-driven purchasing decisions and manage commodity price risk. The company generated revenue by taking a fee on transactions completed within the marketplace.

Yesler secured a total of $10.1 million in funding over several rounds, with investors including Tech Square Ventures, PSL Ventures, SeaChange Fund, Ascend.vc, and Crosslink Capital. In early 2021, the company raised $3.3 million, and a subsequent Series B round in August 2022 brought in another $5 million. However, in February 2024, after about five years of operation, Yesler wound down its software platform and company operations. Following this, the leadership team, including CEO Matt Meyers, founded a new venture named Lumber Runner Trading, a wholesale trading company that leverages proprietary AI technology developed from the Yesler experience.