Funding Roundup: Scaling New Heights with CommerceIQ, Sayurbox and Kargo among Many Others
It has been a fantastic week for startups in the e-commerce, logistics and supply chain space. In this week’s Ecosystem Funding Roundup, we are happy to feature 7 of their outstanding achievements:
Powered by People Seed Funding
Powered by People (PBP) is a B2B wholesale platform connecting small businesses in 47 countries to retailers across North America. Founded in 2019, the Kenya-based platform has quickly grown into an integrated team with hubs in different continents and is now a trusted source for retailers like Pottery Barn and West Elm. With the $5M from the latest equity investment, PBP will continue to build up their technology while scaling its operations to fuel international expansion.
Year Founded: 2019
Founders: Alison Phillips, Ella Peinovich, Hedvig Alexander
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Latest Funding: $5M Seed
Lead Investors: Susa Ventures and Golden Ventures
Whale Dynamic Seed Funding
China’s Whale Dynamic is on a mission to bring autonomous driving to our daily life with higher redundancy and lower cost. Using advanced sensor fusion technology, the company is developing driverless vehicles that will do away with the steering wheel and the driver’s seat. Following the $2.5M seed round led by Qianchuang Capital, the nascent Nuro challenger is looking to ramp up its hiring efforts and examine product use cases in the US.
Year Founded: 2018
Founders: David Chang
Location: Shenzhen, China
Latest Funding: $2.5M Seed
Lead Investors: Qianchuang Capital
CommerceIQ Series D Funding
As the pioneer in retail e-commerce management, CommerceIQ helps simplify online marketplaces such as Amazon, Instacart and Walmart for major consumer brands. The company has recently entered the unicorn club with the closing of $115M Series D that brought its valuation to over $1B. This fresh capital will allow the team to accelerate R&D and M&A activities, as well as explore opportunities in both Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Year Founded: 2012
Founders: Guru Hariharan
Location: California, United States
Latest Funding: $115M Series D
Lead Investors: Softbank Vision Fund
Sayurbox Series C Funding
E-grocery firm Sayurbox has raised $120M in a Series C round featuring Northstar and Alpha JWC Ventures as lead investors. According to the CEO and Co-Founder Amanda Susanti, the company was “founded with a social mission to provide market access to local farmers through digitizing the Indonesian agricultural supply chain.” With over 5,000 agricultural products, ranging from fresh produce, meat, and poultry to ready-to-eat foods, it currently serves around 1 million customers in the country.
Year Founded: 2016
Founders: Amanda Susanti, Metha Trisnawati, Rama Notowidigdo
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
Latest Funding: $120M Series C
Lead Investors: Northstar, Alpha JWC Ventures
iPrice Group Funding
iPrice Group is a Malaysian-based e-commerce aggregator that offers a one-stop destination for an easy, seamless online shopping experience. As of today, iPrice compares and catalogs more than 7 billion e-commerce offers from over 8 million sellers, attracting more than 35 million monthly visits across the region. On top of expanding into lending services, the $5M acquired from the latest financing round will go towards getting more users on its newly launched app.
Year Founded: 2014
Founders: David Chmelar, Heinrich Wendel
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Latest Funding: $5M
Lead Investors: Itochu Corporation, KDDI Open Innovation Fund
ShopThing Series A Funding
ShopThing, a livestream shopping marketplace focused on luxury products, has secured $10M in a Series A led by Origin Ventures, with participation from Pritzker Group and Interplay. Launched in 2018, the four-year old startup already has more than 100 buyers and influencers on its platform across North America. Through the new funding, the team will be able to acquire more shoppers, develop a membership program, and finally take their plan of going international a step further.
Year Founded: 2019
Founders: Maggie Adhami-Boynton
Location: Toronto, Canada
Latest Funding: $10M Series A
Lead Investors: Origin Ventures
Kargo Series A Funding
Kargo is a freight logistics company that provides efficiency and visibility to the supply chain, starting at the loading dock. By leveraging emerging technologies, Kargo has created a completely new source of real-time data on freight and facility operations. Today, it works alongside some of the biggest names in logistics like Flexport and Lineage. Using the $25M from the recent Series A, the company plans to boost recruitment and scale its software and hardware offerings.
Year Founded: 2019
Founders: Sam Lurye
Location: San Francisco, United States
Latest Funding: $25M Series A
Lead Investors: Sozo Ventures
A huge congratulations to all and we are looking forward to witnessing your growth in the months to come!
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