Logistic companies are rolling in the money
Logistic companies are rolling in the money
Greetings, Pulse Subscribers!
The wheels of retail keep on turning, and we’re here once again to fill you in on everything you need to know to keep up. Here’s the agenda:
Big money in global logistics
Quality and compliance in production and supply chains
Making last-mile delivery sustainable
Ghost kitchens + malls = ?
Sound advice for retail executives
Let’s go!
Startup Deals
Global Logistics Platform | While recent supply chain issues can certainly be blamed in part on disruptions due to the pandemic, many of today’s supply chain problems stem from systemic issues such as lack of visibility, inefficiency, and an inability to adapt to challenges in a changing landscape. Flexport, a San Francisco-based inventory tracking and global logistics platform, is building a modern, data-driven solution that tackles these issues and more. With tools to ship and track goods to and from anywhere, insure cargo, clear goods before they land, provide data that helps companies grow, and more, Flexport accelerates performance and growth across the entire supply chain. Having moved nearly $19 billion in gross merchandise for over 10,000 companies in 2021, Flexport recently raised $935 million in a Series E funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz and MSD Partners for a post-money valuation of over $8 billion.
Quality and Compliance | For many retailers, the production and supply chain of even a single product can be so multifaceted that it’s difficult to track, let alone ensure standards and protocols are met. In fact, many links in these chains remain offline, limiting visibility and making gathering the needed data nearly impossible. Six-year-old Inspectorio helps companies and brands move their supply chain online and have better visibility and data surrounding quality and compliance. Inspectorio’s current product suite covers quality, compliance, and tracking, helping businesses share data across their suppliers in real time, allowing them to consistently audit. This constant monitoring helps retailers maintain quality standards, ensure they’re in compliance, and react proactively based on current data. With over 7,000 customers including Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Kohl’s, Inspectorio raised $50 million in a Series B round led by Insight Partners.
Sustainable Last-Mile Delivery | According to research from the World Economic Forum, last-mile delivery is expected to grow 78% by 2030, with all those extra vehicles increasing carbon dioxide emissions by almost a third. Paack offers convenient, timely, and more sustainable methods of delivery than traditional last-mile companies. With personalized and reliable scheduled deliveries, Paack maximizes the last-mile delivery experience for retailers and customers. Aiming to deliver all parcels at net-zero carbon emissions and using electric last-mile delivery vehicles, Paack minimizes environmental impact and is currently seeking certification with the Carbon Trust and United Nations for its sustainability practices. With customers that include Nespresso, Decathlon, Loewe, and H&M, Paack raised $225 million in Series D funding led by SoftBank.
Corporate & Startup Partnerships
The retail ecosystem is vast, and as startups grow and their disruptive technologies get adopted by large retailers, interesting things can happen. In this segment, we dive into recent partnerships and developments in the retail ecosystem to share where the newest innovations are unfolding.
Simon Property Group + Kitchen United | While malls are primarily known as a venue for retailers, what if the food could draw people in as well? Kitchen United, known for popularizing ghost kitchens (foodservice operations with no wait staff or dining room, set up for delivery or pickup only), and Simon Property Group, known for its shopping mall investments, have teamed up to launch the Grab Go Eat platform. With Grab Go Eat, a mall’s food offerings are united in one hub, available through kiosks, website, or app, where patrons can order items from multiple menus in a single transaction. Orders can be picked up via a pickup center (similar to a drive-thru), directly from restaurants, or from on-premises food lockers; or delivered to tables or any store within the mall. Allowing mall restaurants and food vendors to grow their reach and offer off-premises service, while giving patrons and mall employees a simple avenue to a broader selection, means everyone at the mall wins.
Sam’s Club + Brain Corp | Inventory can be a challenge for any business, but for warehouse stores, where stock can be orders of magnitude larger than in regular stores, it’s especially difficult. That’s why Sam’s Club has partnered with Brain Corp to deploy robotic inventory analysis equipment to all of its nearly 600 locations across the United States. Sam’s Club originally partnered with Brain Corp in 2020 to deploy autonomous floor-cleaning robots, which currently clean all Sam’s Club’s US locations. The robotic inventory scanner will attach to the roaming bots so that Sam’s Club gets double the use out of the technology already in place. Automatically scanning the shelves (while cleaning the floors!) ensures pricing accuracy, stock levels, and item locations, freeing employees to better serve customers and have more time to manage critical tasks.
Essential Reads
As we well know, the 2021 holiday season was a surprise blockbuster. Sales estimates recorded the highest nominal year-over-year growth in nearly 30 years, nearly double some expectations, due in part to the gigantic resurgence of in-store shopping. The team at Bain looks at the season that was, and instead of making predictions for 2022, has penned letters to key retail executives. These letters are packed with insights, wishes, recommendations, things to watch for, resources, and more for those across the C Suite to keep their business thriving through 2022 and beyond.
With 2021 receding in the rearview mirror, the way divergent technologies and events interacted as a catalyst for big changes and unexpected results becomes clearer every day. The team at Two Sigma Ventures has gone deep in reviewing the past year and presents 12 trends that are looking to shape 2022. These trends span the spectrum from supply chain to the labor market to data drift and more. They will certainly impact the new year individually, and time will tell what will happen if and when the trends converge.
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