Boxed CEO Chieh Huang feature

Boxed, Amazon News Highlight Economic Woes

| Mike O'Brien

Boxed, the once high-flying online warehouse club that set out to be the ecommerce equivalent of brick-and-click competitors like Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s, is now exploring strategic alternatives, which euphemistically means looking for a buyer. And Amazon acknowledged an expansion of its corporate layoffs from 10,000 to 18,000.

NewStore logo

NewStore Raises $45 Million in New Funding

| Mike O'Brien

NewStore, provider of an omnichannel platform focusing on helping vertically integrated brands improve their customer experience, has raised $45 million as it expands in Europe and looks to fuel further growth. Stephan Schambach, founder and CEO of NewStore, said the pandemic “changed the sentiment” around omnichannel.

ShipBob headquarters feature

ShipBob Raises $200M, Joins Growing Unicorn Club

| Mike O'Brien

ShipBob, a provider of software and services to optimize shipping for ecommerce companies, has raised $200 million in a new funding round, pushing its valuation over the $1 billion mark in a crowded unicorn field as it looks to expand globally and support customers as they add new channels.

Stackline Raises $130M, Looks Ahead to IPO

| Mike O'Brien

Ecommerce technology provider Stackline has received $130 million in funding from UK-based private equity firm TA Associates, on top of a $50 million investment from Goldman Sachs’ growth equity team in November, using it to create new products, pursue foreign markets and look ahead to an IPO.

Shippo cofounders featuree

Shippo Raises $50 Million to Cross Unicorn Threshold

| Mike O'Brien

Shipping platform firm Shippo has raised another $50 million in capital, just three months after its last $45 million round, doubling its valuation in that time to over $1 billion as it claims 100,000 ecommerce customers and looks to expand internationally via marketplace and platform partners.

Nimble Robotics Simon Kalouche feature

Nimble Robotics Takes In $50M, Adds AI Luminaries

| Mike O'Brien

Nimble Robotics, a maker of order picking and packing robots for ecommerce, is the latest fulfillment automation maker to join the massive VC gravy train of late in ecommerce technology, raising $50 million in Series A financing in a round led by DNS Capital and GSR Ventures.

Exotec skypods feature

Robotic Goods-to-Person Firm Exotec Raises $90 Million

| Mike O'Brien

French robotics firm Exotec, which lists Japanese fast-fashion retailer Uniqlo as a major client, has raised $90 million to power its global growth in ecommerce fulfillment. Founded in 2015, Exotec is built on a goods-to-person model with its Skypod bots which uses laser guidance to navigate a fulfillment center.

ShipBob FC in Chicago feature

ShipBob Raises $68 Million in Funding, Plans to Double Its Network

| Mike O'Brien

ShipBob, a provider of third-party logistics with facilities in the U.S., Canada and Europe, has raised $68 million to fuel growth, expand its platform and more than double its global network, a signal of the significant venture capital flowing into logistics to support the ecommerce explosion. This brings the total raised to $130.5 million.

Brandless Goes Away, A Rare Stumble for SoftBank

| Douglas P. Clement

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) retailer Brandless, which sold beauty products, non-GMO snacks and everyday items under its own non-brand austere label in a radical departure from the norm, is halting operations. Brandless is laying off 70 employees and retaining 10 to fulfill remaining orders, which stopped being accepted Feb. 10.