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Sendcloud picks up $177 million via SoftBank-led investment

European ecommerce shipping platform Sendcloud has secured $177 million in a funding round led by SoftBank’s second Vision Fund. There was also strategic investment from L Catterton and participation from HPE Growth.

Sendcloud, which helps online businesses to optimise their shipping processes, is looking to capitalise on the fast-growing delivery market, which is on course to grow form $475 billion today to $591 billion in 2024.

The capital will be used to accelerate growth, continue the company’s international expansion, and fuel adoption of its platform. It also plans to add another 250 employees to its existing 400 over the next 12 months.

“At a time when consumers around the world want to decide where, when and how they want to receive a parcel, leading online merchants depend on Sendcloud to fuel their logistics process,” said Rob van den Heuvel, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Sendcloud. “To engage consumers in the long term and successfully process growing parcel volumes, a multi-carrier solution like Sendcloud is essential, and we are proud to partner with SoftBank and L Catterton and embark on a new chapter of growth for our business.”

The Dutch platform is currently used by more than 23,000 merchants to offer shipping methods including cross-border shipping, delivery in parcel lockers, same-day delivery, and specific timeslot delivery. In addition, it has access to over 400,000 service points across Europe to enable consumers to pick up their deliveries from a number of parcel shops.

As part of the investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Neil-Cunha Gomes and Monika Wilk, both investors at SoftBank Investment Advisers, join Sendcloud’s board of directors. They will be joined by L Catterton’s Ido Krakowsky.

“Growing parcel volume and demand for flexible delivery have increased the need for smart shipping solutions amongst online merchants,” said Yanni Pipilis, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. “Sendcloud has built a leading all-in-one shipping platform that aims to help merchants easily integrate functionalities such as checkout, shipping, tracking, returns, and analytics. We are pleased to partner with Rob and the Sendcloud team to support their mission of fueling the next wave of ecommerce enablement.”

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