Incorporated in 2014, Shippit looks after logistics requirements of online retailers, enabling them to book carriers, track them and notify customers.
They have certainly set out an example with their latest fund-raising round. Initially seeking to raise $3 million originally, the startup went on to attract an investment offer of $5 million. They did something that startups, generally, do not. They ended up rejecting $5 million and went on to secure $2.2 million.
The CEO and co-founder Rob Hango-Zada, who co-founded the company along with William On, says they were pleased to have met the funding target. However, they decided to reevaluate the figure post attracting interest from investors. This is, because, from the time they started seeking funds to the time they secured them, the business nearly doubled and exceeded their expectations. Hango-Zada commented,
We received a humbling flurry of interest, however, we didn’t think it would be wise to accept more capital than we actually required. The purpose of this raise was specifically to obtain growth capital to invest in strategic hires, building out the local team, as well as supporting rapid expansion into international markets.
The company says their subscriber base rose by over 40 percent during the fund-raising process, and they witnessed a 200 percent hike in monthly revenue. And hence, they ended up turning down $2.8 million. He explained,
Never raise more than you need is one of the key principles of our business, and we kind of looked at it like a Formula 1 Grand Prix: as you’re doing laps you know when to go to the pit stop and refuel, and it’s very critical you don’t do it too soon and you don’t do it too late.
The funding round was led by APAC venture fun Aura Group and saw the participation of Addventure Fund and RTL Group Investment. This brings the total funding raised of Shippit to $3 million. The company is now aiming to expand its footprint to Southeast Asia. Also, with the fresh inflow of funds, the startup will support sales and marketing efforts and expand their product engineering team.
Shippit serves about 750 clients across the nation, such as Sephora, Topshop, Thankyou and Pet Circle, with 250,000 parcels delivered via the platform every month.
