{"id":43366,"date":"2023-10-20T15:28:03","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/shippit-wraps-up-500000-funding-round-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:28:03","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:28:03","slug":"shippit-wraps-up-500000-funding-round-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/shippit-wraps-up-500000-funding-round-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Shippit wraps up $500,000 funding round – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The hunt for seed funding might feel like a distraction at the time, but it\u2019s a period of reflection that can be valuable in more than just financial terms, according to Shippit co-founder Rob Hango-Zada.<\/p>\n

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The Sydney-based startup is trying to make missing parcels a thing of the past and has just closed a $500,000 seed investment round.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSecuring an investment can feel like a distraction, but it\u2019s a worthy one that makes you look into the viability of your business model and helps you refine it,\u201d Hango-Zada says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPatience is really important, and you can\u2019t lose focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Shippit works mainly with retailers who ship packages to customers, and will use the cash injection to build its team and deal with the increasing demand for its services.<\/p>\n

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The round was led by Les Szekely of Equity Venture Partners, and Hango-Zada says it\u2019s a good fit.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe looked at his investment portfolio, with the likes of SiteMinder, OneFlare and HotelClub,\u201d Hango-Zada says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey\u2019re all marketplace-type businesses so we saw a lot of synergy between those businesses and what we\u2019re looking to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Working on a seamless service<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Shippit team is still looking to improve the product and user experience, before turning attention towards expanding rapidly.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re focused on building a fantastic product rather than aggressively going to market,\u201d Hango-Zada says.<\/p>\n

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Steady growth<\/b><\/h2>\n

Shippit\u2019s cloud-based software allows clients a point-and-click approach to sending goods, and gives the ability to book, track and manage a shipment. It\u2019s targeted at the retail market, and currently available in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.<\/p>\n

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While Hango-Zada won\u2019t disclose what valuation was placed on the investment, he says they do have one of Australia\u2019s \u201ciconic\u201d electrical goods and consumer electronics retailers on board.<\/p>\n

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The startup has been growing continually this year, he says, with clients now including the Academy Brand, Urban Couture and Seletti.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s been a bit of a multiplier effect, each week there is consistent growth,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve gone from a business focused on the Sydney metro area doing a hundred deliveries a week to doing thousands of deliveries a month.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Everyone versus Australia Post<\/b><\/h2>\n

The delivery market in Australia is really starting to heat up this year, with numerous startups looking to disrupt the sector and take down Australia Post.<\/p>\n

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Similar online retail delivery network startup ParcelPoint raised $7 million earlier this year<\/a>, while Sendle, another delivery startup, closed a $1.8 million seed round in April<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Hango-Zada says Shippit stands out because of its emphasis on retail and seamlessness in its service. He adds that this increased competition should be seen as a positive for the startups immersed in it.<\/p>\n

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\u201cCollectively we think it\u2019s fantastic,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen we started the business in April last year there wasn\u2019t a lot of innovation in the space locally. Now we\u2019re seeing a lot of players out there improving the delivery experience, and we think that\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Raising your<\/i> first round of capital<\/i><\/a>? Starting a<\/i> crowdfunding campaign<\/i><\/a>? Want to grow your business<\/i> with Instagram?<\/i><\/a> StartupSmart School can help.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The hunt for seed funding might feel like a distraction at the time, but it\u2019s a period of reflection that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,21,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43366"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}