Swedish logistics outfit Instabox has secured a €36 million ($39m) financing round, as it looks beyond its Scandinavian home market. The company, founded five years ago by Alexis Prifitis, Johan Lundin and Staffan Gabrielsson, now has a valuation above €100m ($109m).
Instabox delivers packages same-day for e-commerce retailers, via a network of “smart delivery lockers” that act in much the same way as an Amazon locker. Its clients include some of Sweden’s most successful online sellers, including H&M, IKEA, Boozt, Junkyard and KICKS.
The company’s previous funding totaled just over $6m. Its latest round injects a credit facility of $25m, share purchases worth almost $10m and an equity issuance of $5.4m.
Instabox will use the latest financing to increase its presence across Sweden, and to look beyond the notoriously tech-friendly nation’s borders. “With the new funds, we aim to radically increase the number of parcel lockers in Sweden from 400 to between 2000-3000,” co-founder and CEO Prifitis told Tech.eu.
“In addition, the new equity will enable us to expand our offering to more markets outside of Sweden.”
Instabox’ model recalls Amazon’s own lockers, which launched in 2011. They are now present in over 900 US cities – and have been proven to increase store footfall wherever they are placed. The global last-mile delivery industry is projected to be worth over $6.1bn by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 10.2%, according to analyst Brandessence Market Research.