Shippit to drive growth across Australia and Asia
Shippit, a B2B SaaS company that enables retailers to take advantage of the surge in online shopping, has announced that it has raised $5.35 million in an oversubscribed pre-series B round.
The startup has attracted equity funding from Equity Venture Partners (EVP), Tidal Ventures and Aura Ventures and venture debt from OneVentures.
Shippit has sought the funding as a result of growing demand for the service, both in Australia and in new markets. This funding will allow Shippit to continue to invest in technology and engineering and drive growth across Australia and Asia through an increased sales presence.
The Shippit platform facilitates more than two million deliveries per month—an increase of more than 100% year on year. The startup has also quadrupled its number of active senders on platform and increased staff by over 50% over the same period.
This latest capital injection takes total funding in the company to over $10 million.
Rob Hango-Zada, founder and joint-CEO of Shippit said: “2019 has been a great but challenging year for Shippit, with the beginnings of our expansion into Asia, the rapid increase in customers, and the launch of our second major product, Shippit Returns. This funding will allow us to realise our vision faster, build out our product more completely, and ramp up our presence in a much bigger market.”
“We’re very excited to be partnering with a powerful group of investors known for their experience in helping businesses like Shippit scale their operations.”
Tidal is a new investor in the Australian VC ecosystem, with a US office and a product-minded partner team hailing from Yahoo and Atlassian.
Grant McCarthy, Tidal Ventures Founding Partner, said: “we have watched the Shippit team execute well against their plan to connect the fragmented carrier market so merchants can deliver the best delivery experience at an optimal rate. Having backed Rob and Will since their Seed round, we are excited to be backing them again as they ready the business for the next phase of growth”.
Nick Gainsley, Principal at OneVentures, said: “the latest funding round will allow Shippit to continue to build its market-leading position, and the inclusion of venture debt into the funding mix will reduce dilution for the founders and investors. The high growth Australian e-commerce market and increasing consumer expectation of quick delivery of goods really play into the hands of Shippit.”
Les Szekely, Angel Investor and EVP Board Chair, said: “A critical part of smart, startup investing is being able to distinguish fashions and fads from the longer-term business trends fuelled by the application of technology. As the world moves online, so too do logistics and the rising tide lifts all boats!”.
Eric Chan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Aura Ventures, said: “We are pleased to see the Company continue to attract new Venture Capital investors onto its register and once again closing another oversubscribed round. This is a true testament to Shippit’s business model to which we believe solves a global e-commerce problem”.
Aura Capital advised Shippit in its capacity as financial adviser and lead manager to the capital raising.
