Shipium Raises $8 Million to Help Ecommerce Companies Fight “the Prime Problem”
The startup, led by former Amazon and Zulily executives, empowers retailers to offer lightning-fast free shipping to customers with unmatched efficiency and operational visibility
SEATTLE, June 10, 2021 — Shipium, a supply chain platform for ecommerce retailers and brands, today announced an $8 million seed round led by Bellevue-based Trilogy Equity Partners, with participation from Darrell Cavens, former Zulily co-founder and CEO, and existing investors PSL Ventures and Good Friends (founders Warby Parker, Harry’s, and Allbirds). The new funding will be used to help capture the tremendous growth and interest in its initial set of platform services.
Shipium was founded by Jason Murray and Mac Brown, two former and long-time supply chain technology executives from Amazon and Zulily. The two led the organizations responsible for the fulfillment technology that underpins both Amazon and Zulily. The co-founders were in the same Amazon start class in 1999, and reunited to create Shipium in late 2019 based on the shared belief that the rest of the ecommerce industry desperately needed modern supply chain software. The company has raised $10 million to date.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit shortly after company founding, which accelerated market interest and adoption. With ecommerce exploding, tremendous stress was placed on retailers’ existing operations to adapt to shifting consumer behavior. Ecommerce sellers unable to provide a Prime-like experience, including an accurate delivery promise plus free and fast shipping, lost revenue and loyalty. The result was further concentration of market share to the biggest players, with eMarketer.com reporting 66% of growth during the pandemic going to the top ten ecommerce companies.
“Because the shipping experience is now the shopping experience, any ecommerce retailer not meeting the expectations of consumers has a ‘Prime problem’ on their hands,” said Jason Murray, co-founder and CEO of Shipium and former Vice President of Supply Chain and Retail Services at Amazon. “It’s pretty simple — downward pressure on revenue and margin will cauterize growth. Shipium helps you fight back.”
The platform, which is projected to process tens of millions of shipments by the end of 2021, provides a set of APIs that help optimize shipping actions at fulfillment centers owned and operated by sellers. Customers leverage the platform’s mix of data science, infrastructure, and expertise to make cost-optimized and customer-centric fulfillment decisions. An impactful example is dynamically picking the cheapest carrier method in real-time to meet a delivery promise at the lowest possible cost.
“Ecommerce companies can offer their customers fast or free shipping and a competitive customer experience by applying modern software to existing assets today. A Prime-like experience does not require a complete reconfiguration of physical operations,” said Mac Brown, co-founder and CTO of Shipium and former Vice President of Supply Chain Technology at Zulily. “This one idea is the first step on the path towards profitable scale.”
Online competition is as fierce as ever, with the total number of U.S. ecommerce brands and retailers swelling to over 150,000. Ecommerce companies must meet shifting customer behaviors to land customer purchases and loyalty.
“We believe that Prime has changed consumer expectations and it puts the other hundreds-of-thousands of ecommerce outlets competing for consumer dollars at a huge disadvantage,” said Chuck Stonecipher, Managing Director at Trilogy Equity Partners. “Backing a team with unrivaled understanding of the domain is an exciting opportunity. We look forward to improved customer experiences and operating models within the ecommerce industry as adoption of Shipium’s platform grows.”
Any ecommerce company who owns and runs their fulfillment centers can learn more at www.shipium.com. Customers can get started today, with assisted implementation taking just 2-4 weeks per fulfillment center.
About Shipium
Shipium is a software platform that helps ecommerce companies ship their orders free, fast, and on-time by improving shipping decisions at their fulfillment centers. The platform reduces shipping costs while speeding up delivery times, empowering ecommerce brands and retailers to provide a competitive delivery experience. The company is led by the executives who built the same technology at Amazon and Zulily.
About Trilogy Equity Partners
Formed in 2006, Trilogy is a Bellevue-based early stage venture firm. Led by former entrepreneurs and operators, Trilogy take a hands-on approach to investing, with a closely held evergreen fund to support talented founders as they build great companies over time.