ShipMonk announced today it has closed a $10 million Series A financing round led by SJF Ventures with participation from Grotech Ventures, Supply Chain Ventures, and a strategic group of individual angel investors. The company will use the financing to continue its rapid expansion, including the addition of a New York location in 2019.
ShipMonk provides multi-channel order fulfillment services and inventory management software to small and midsized (SMB) e-commerce companies. ShipMonk enables SMBs to focus on building their brands and achieving growth rather than managing backend logistics. API integrations sync directly with customers' marketplace platforms and online shopping carts to automatically import orders, which are then processed seamlessly at ShipMonk's two bicoastal warehouse locations. The software offers complete product visibility and order controls. ShipMonk saves e-commerce companies money while providing a scalable supply chain solution at service levels that are difficult for SMBs to achieve on their own.
ShipMonk CEO Jan Bednar shared, "We are proud of all we've accomplished while bootstrapping our growth. Now that we've secured a team of strategic investors, we're doubling down on the core values that got us this far: innovative software development, feature-rich automations, and streamlined customer experience. We're continuing to simplify and automate how e-commerce companies control their supply chain operations so they can focus on optimizing their multi-channel sales while we ship their customer orders out in record time. We're very excited about what our partnership with SJF Ventures, Grotech Ventures, and Supply Chain Ventures means for our clients and their customers."
Most successful e-commerce companies have a penchant for branding, marketing, and product development, but supply chain management is among the most complex and underestimated components of any e-commerce business.
"Fulfillment and logistics are not typically a core competency of SMB e-commerce brands," said David Griest of SJF Ventures. "E-commerce platforms such as Shopify have simplified the process of selling online, but fulfillment remains antiquated. ShipMonk's leading technology and automation enables even small e-commerce businesses to meet ever increasing consumer expectations for faster delivery and flawless logistics."
Lawson DeVries of Grotech Ventures added, "ShipMonk has quickly emerged as an industry leader by meeting a market need for SMBs with an integrated technology-forward solution and innovative warehouse automation. Having rapidly grown to serve hundreds of customers nationwide while entirely self-financed is a testament to the scalability of their model."
ShipMonk provides an easy to use, all-in-one solution for inventory management, orders, and shipping. Its software automatically import orders from all of a customer's sales channels with over 100 shopping cart and marketplace integrations. Warehouse automation enables exceptional accuracy through features including the first e-commerce storage and retrieval machines in the U.S., RFID tracking of inventory movement, infrared technology for measuring product dimensions and weight, and complex algorithms optimizing picking routes and overall warehouse performance on each task. ShipMonk's heavily discounted shipping rates with every major carrier are shared with customers while providing transparent billing. Happiness Engineers are trained to be fulfillment experts and provide best in class customer support.
ShipMonk's customers have extolled the merits of the company, including Taylor Offer of FEAT Socks who lauded, "We've used multiple different fulfillment partners. There were always issues and it was always top of mind for me as a founder to check on them. ShipMonk is the first fulfillment partner I have trusted. Switching over to them was a blessing by gaining control of our order fulfillment and helping enable our growth. I love ShipMonk!"
About ShipMonk
ShipMonk is a tech-first solutions provider that delivers amazing customer experiences through fulfillment services. From its inception in 2014, ShipMonk has operated with a singular guiding principle: to help small and medium-sized businesses scale by offering technology-driven fulfillment solutions that enable business founders to devote more time to the things that matter most in their businesses. Put simply, ShipMonk helps e-commerce companies stress less and grow more.
Headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Florida, ShipMonk has grown to over 200 employees across facilities in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Los Angeles, California areas. ShipMonk self-financed its initial growth to become #29 on the 2018 INC 5000, and CEO Jan Bednar was named to the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list. More information is available at www.shipmonk.com.
About SJF Ventures
SJF Ventures' mission is to catalyze the development of highly successful businesses driving lasting, positive changes. With offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and Durham, NC, SJF has a 19-year history of assisting visionary management teams build industry-leading firms. For more information, visit www.sjfventures.com.
About Grotech Ventures
Founded in 1984, Grotech Ventures is a leading investor in high-potential technology companies. With more than $1.3 billion under management, Grotech seeks innovative IT companies with particular emphasis on software and SaaS; digital and social media; security and storage technologies; healthcare information technology; and communications technology and services. Grotech continues to invest and add value throughout the growth of its portfolio companies. The firm has offices in Virginia, Maryland, and Colorado. For more information, visit www.grotech.com.
About Supply Chain Ventures
Supply Chain Ventures is an early-stage venture capital partnership. Its preferred investments are in young, revenue-producing companies using information technology to enhance global marketing and supply chain management. Beyond capital, the team brings significant entrepreneurial, operating, and investment experience to help its portfolio companies be successful. For more information, visit www.supplychainventure.com.
