The pandemic forced us to rework how we live, shop and socialise. During this period, e-commerce shares also touched an all time high. As per a report, ecommerce in the UK rose to an all-time high of 31.3 percent before stabilising at 24 percent. Fulfilling the needs of such ecommerce business is the Warsaw-based B2B startup Packhelp, which offers custom packing to its consumers. The startup has now announced raising a notable €40 million in its Series B funding round.
Funding for fueling expansion
The latest funding round for Packhelp was led by Paris-based B2B tech growth fund InfraVia Growth. PortfoLion, FJ Labs and the European Investment Bank also participated in the round. Furthermore, previous investors in the company, Speedinvest, ProFounders, Market One Capital, Inovo, White Star Capital and business angels joined as well. With this, the total amount raised by the company now stands at €52 million.
Packhelp plans to utilise the fresh funds to further grow, and acquire complementary businesses. “We are looking for companies that will help us deliver on our strategic plans faster and increase our tech advantage, especially around process and design automation. We will approach any M&A proposition carefully though, as we are bullish about keeping our company culture intact and staying on top of our mission,” Packhelp tells TFN.
The company successfully launched in the Netherlands, Sweden and Romania this year and now it will further expand its business across key regions of Europe and the UK. It is planning on establishing local teams, localising its product portfolio and building distribution hubs in central regions.
Speaking more on expansion, the company’s co-founder and CEO Wojtek Sadowski tells us, “For now, we’re focusing on Europe. We want to strengthen our position in key markets by becoming closer to our customers through opening local hubs to make our processes better and more transparent, cut lead time to even the most remote locations, offer better pricing, localise our product lineup and finally build local supply chains to reduce carbon emissions created during transit.”
The €40 million series B funding round is also touted to be the largest funding round at this stage, for a Polish company. The startup is now eyeing accelerating its international expansion plans as it scales its global suppliers’ network.
Custom branded packaging for all business sizes
Typically, if you’re in the ecommerce business, ordering packaging can be an expensive affair. And if you’re a startup or a business who is trying to cut down on costs, it can be challenging to manage finances since most packaging solutions require a minimum order of 1000 or so shipping boxes.
Packhelp establishes itself in this space by providing custom packaging solutions for all business sizes. The company enables access to packaging for small businesses who may not have the budget or capacity to order thousands of boxes at once. Additionally, the Packhelp Studio functionality lets one place orders from merely 30 pieces and have them delivered in about two weeks.
One can also use the company’s online Studio feature to design their own packaging. Their online library offers a host of sizes, patterns, shapes and fonts to select from, without needing any particular knowledge of softwares like Photoshop.
Sustainability at the forefront
Sustainability plays a major role when millions of packages are being shipped around the world every day. Packhelp participates by investing in sustainable alternatives for all its product ranges. The startup claims that back in 2020, 65 percent of all packaging items sold via their marketplace were produced with recycled materials and 92 percent of them were recyclable.
Packhelp offers advice to minimise packaging and order printing with FSC-certified materials. The company also works with multiple manufacturers across Europe to cut down on freight emissions and transit costs. As for their next step in sustainable packaging, the company is planning on auditing all of its packaging items and introducing carbon-neutral packaging.
