Turvo CEO was fired for expensing strip club visits

Logistics software startup Turvo has a new chief executive officer after co-founder and previous CEO Eric Gilmore was fired in May for charging $76,120 to his expense account for visits to strip clubs over a three-year span, published reports say.

Although he officially left his post as CEO in September, Gilmore appears to still be associated with the company, however. His profile on the social media network LinkedIn still lists his position as "Founder, Board Member and Special Advisor to CEO at Turvo Inc." His replacement, Scott Lang, has been listed as chairman and CEO of the company since November.

Turvo did not respond to requests for comment.

The firm has been growing quickly, landing $60 million in venture capital funding in 2018 and announcing an integration with DHL Supply Chain, the contract logistics arm of German parcel giant Deutsche Post DHL Group, in September. Altogether, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Turvo has raised nearly $100 million in funding for its real-time, "collaborative logistics" product, a platform that helps users further their supply chain digitalization plans by supporting an "internet of shipping" system designed to connect people, businesses, applications, and devices.

Investors have been pouring money into Turvo and other "next-generation" logistics tech platforms in recent years, and it was those venture capitalists who decided that Gilmore's alleged spending patterns were grounds for his dismissal, according to a Bloomberg story. The Turvo board met in May to discuss the findings, where the VC investors who held seats on the company's board promptly fired Gilmore and replaced him with new CEO Scott Lang, the story said.

In response, Gilmore sued Turvo for failing to follow proper procedures in seeking his dismissal, court documents show.

Financial firm Activant Capital, which is one of Turvo's investors, did not reply to a request for comment.

DHL Supply Chain said throughout a spokesperson that "It is DHL Supply Chain's policy not to comment on personnel-related news of its partners."

Excited to share news of our partnership w/ @DHLsupplychain. Further validation of enabling real #collaboration in #supplychain & value of connecting people + systems w/ ability to take action against one shared truth. More on our work together soon... https://t.co/4Umm3UaYn5 pic.twitter.com/W2LHA8xKWx

— Turvo (@turvo) September 12, 2019