Ex-Uber executive sued over allegations he took trade secrets to new Bezos-backed start-up

Beacon chief executive Fraser Robinson

A former Uber executive is being sued for allegedly stealing trade secrets to set up his own logistics start-up, backed by Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt.

A lawsuit has been filed against Fraser Robinson, accusing him of stealing confidential information from shipping and logistics company Vanguard Logistics whilst on its board, and using that information to establish his rival company in London.

The complaint, which was filed in the US district court for California, claimed Mr Robinson had gone on to secure funding from backers including ex-Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick after "blatant breaches of contract and other violations of law".

The lawsuit alleged that Mr Robinson was assisted by another former executive Dmitri Izmailov, a co-founder of Beacon, to "pilfer Vanguard’s confidential information".

A spokesman for Vanguard said: "We trusted Fraser Robinson as a director and fiduciary of the company, this included legal stipulations around non-disclosures and protection of Vanguard’s IP, and he betrayed that trust.

"It is fitting that Fraser Robinson launched a company founded on fraud and named it Beacon, a word that describes a warning signal. Anybody doing business with him should certainly beware."

Vanguard is owned by the Mansour Group, the family-owned conglomerate. 

The latest case mirrors an earlier lawsuit, filed against Uber by Waymo, in which Uber was accused of working with an insider to steal trade secrets. Ultimately, Uber and Waymo settled, with the former giving Waymo access to $245m (£189m) of Uber shares. 

It was only in May that London-based Beacon announced it had closed a $15m funding round which had included investment from Mr Bezos and venture capital firm 8VC.

Mr Bezos’s portion was from his private wealth. Discussions over the funding round first started taking place last September.

Beacon uses artificial intelligence and data science to provide a real-time view of the global delivery of cargo, and provide updates on shipping costs and prices.

Beacon did not respond to requests for comment.