Shopping app company picks up $25m in funding

Palo Alto-based Curbside – whose mobile app allows shoppers to buy online from participating retailers and then collect their goods from stores’ pick-up points without having to get out of their cars – has secured $25m in a recent funding round. The company – which had already secure $9.5m in a previous funding round – said it would use the funding to expand its activities into new US markets and work with more stores. Currently, Curbside is available in about 30 locations in the San Francisco Bay area and New Jersey/New York area.  The company plans to launch in Los Angeles later this summer, and then roll out to the top dozen metro regions in the US.

Curbside (website address: shopcurbside.com) will be battling it out in the market with same-day delivery providers, but founder and CEO Jaron Waldman believes that his service actually holds an advantage: “I should be able to order a gift, get it when I need it and pick it up on my way home. I don’t need to be stuck at home waiting for a package to arrive.”