Munich, January 10, 2018 – Munich-based start-up parcelLab GmbH has successfully closed a seven-figure Series A financing round. TAKKT Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (TBG) and the venture capital fund coparion GmbH & Co. KG have come on board as new investors. parcelLab intends to use the additional capital both to hire new employees and to invest in the company’s further international growth.
“We are very pleased to have two more strong, strategic partners on board with TBG and coparion. We will now invest intensively in the expansion of our IT and sales teams and are on the lookout for new talent,” says Tobias Buxhoidt, CEO and co-founder of parcelLab. Together with Anton Eder and Julian Krenge, he founded the start-up in 2014, which now has over 20 employees and plans to grow further, including internationally.
parcelLab supports online retailers from the DACH region, Italy, the UK and the USA in optimizing the shopping experience of their customers. Every parcel sent by retailers is monitored in real time and an algorithm detects all delays in delivery. These are then communicated to the customer via various channels such as email or SMS. In doing so, the startup’s software identifies both the right channel and the optimal time for a retailer to address and best communicate with its customers. With personalized texts such as pick-up notifications or delivery announcements and offers in their corporate identity, retailers thus remain in contact with the customer even after the purchase process, instead of leaving this point of contact to the shipping service providers.
“Many companies have neglected shipping as part of the customer journey until now. Fortunately, mail-order companies are increasingly discovering that it offers enormous potential for cross-selling and upselling, as well as for strengthening customer loyalty. We can already count Marc O’Polo, Jochen Schweizer, Thomann and Weltbild among our satisfied customers, which of course gives us additional confirmation,” says Buxhoidt, explaining the advantages for parcelLab customers.
“We found it impressive how much parcelLab’s technology can extract from existing shipment data of logistics providers to enable improved customer communication in one area of the customer journey. The speed with which measurable results are achieved at retailers in a very short time has further strengthened our investment decision,” explains Christian Stein, Managing Director at coparion. “We think parcelLab is in a good position to grow significantly.”
Franziskus Josten, Managing Director of TAKKT Beteiligungsgesellschaft, also says: “We strongly believe in the importance of personalized customer communication after check-out. parcelLab offers a very attractive solution to improve the customer shopping experience with its proactive shipping messages and we are happy to support parcelLab in its further development.”
Press contact:
Vanessa Eiletz Saskia Müller
PR & Content Manager PR & Events
Tel.: +49 (0)1525 75 11 813 Tel.: +49 (0)178 342 15 67
E-Mail: vanessa@parcellab.com E-Mail: parcellab@saskiamueller.com
About parcelLab:
parcelLab provides online stores with efficient technology and implementation for successful post-purchase communication. The goal is to provide shoppers with interesting information throughout the entire shipping process and thus create an optimal shopping experience. Important delivery events or deviations are identified and sent individualized as email, SMS, message via Facebook or within the retailer app. In this way, companies strengthen customer loyalty and can exploit further upselling potential by directing online shoppers back into the store via specific messages.
The Munich-based start-up was founded in 2014 by Anton Eder, Tobias Buxhoidt and Julian Krenge. Today, over 20 employees work for more than 280 international retailers in 32 countries and 17 languages.
About TAKKT Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH:
TAKKT Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (TBG) was founded in early 2016 as a subsidiary of TAKKT AG, a leading B2B specialist mail order company for business equipment in Europe and North America. The objective of TBG is the strategic investment as a “smart investor” in young, high-growth companies that specialize in B2B specialty mail order or services along the value chain of the TAKKT companies. Minority investments are particularly suitable as a type of investment. The investment focus is on young companies that are already active in the market and are looking for external partners to finance their growth initiatives. Start-ups are to be supported in their growth and internationalization through know-how transfer and cooperation with the international TAKKT companies. At the same time, TAKKT’s TBG provides direct access to innovative business models, new products and visionary founders.
About coparion:
coparion is a venture capital investor for young, German technology companies. With a fund volume of 225 million euros, coparion contributes significantly to rapid and sustainable growth.
coparion supports entrepreneurial vision with know-how without interfering in the operational business. Thanks to its many years of experience in venture capital and in building up companies, the coparion team recognizes potential and opens up new perspectives. coparion brings the substance, perseverance and creativity to successfully master even difficult situations together.
coparion finances exclusively together with co-investors. The focus is on the start-up and young growth phase. The fund invests up to 10 million euros per company, usually in several financing rounds of 0.5-3 million euros each. Coparion has offices in Cologne and Berlin.
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