Sendle, Australia’s only 100% carbon neutral and top rated courier service has raised AU$20 million in a Series B funding round to accelerate growth, double down on its challenge against Post, and begin exploration into international markets.
The funding round was led by Federation, who are investing alongside Full Circle Venture Capital, Rampersand and Giant Leap as returning investors.
Sendle launched four years ago to give small businesses a real alternative to Post, offering carbon neutral door-to-door delivery at affordable national flat rates. It aims to unlock the power of big business logistics — convenience and affordability — for those at the smaller end of town, saving business owners time, money and a trip to the Post Office.
Sendle’s mission has struck a chord with small business owners around the country, fuelling strong and consistent year-on-year growth for the Australia Post challenger. Since launching in November 2014, Sendle parcels have travelled more than 4.3 billion kilometres — as far as Neptune, or 14 times to the Sun and back. It facilitates more than a quarter of billion dollars in small business eCommerce annually and its customer base has grown by over 600 per cent in the last two years.
“We’ve always had one mission at Sendle, and that’s to level the playing field by giving small business owners access to big business delivery infrastructure,” said Sendle CEO and Co-founder, James Chin Moody.
“We exist to offer a cheaper and convenient alternative to Australia Post — a 200 year old functional monopoly that has remained largely unchallenged up until now. The new funding will ensure that we’re well resourced to ramp up our ‘Post without the Office’ fight in 2019 to educate the market about their options.”
Funds raised from the Series B will fuel new product launches, partnerships as well as expansion into new overseas markets as Sendle gears up to take its offering onto the global stage. The courier service expects 2019 to be a year of hyper-growth with CMO, Eva Ross, joining Sendle’s ranks last year from Airbnb, to spearhead brand and marketing as the business scales.
Why has Sendle attracted this Federation investment?
Federation invests in clean-energy and sustainability projects, social, health and education, real estate, and growing businesses that meet today’s social, environmental and economic needs. As part of its investment, Federation’s Head of Private Equity, Neil Brown, will join the Sendle Board.
“James and the team at Sendle are solving a critical issue for their customers in the fast-growing SME eCommerce sector with their innovative business model, and we are excited by their prospects for strong continued growth in Australia and abroad. The Federation and Sendle teams have the shared goal of achieving commercial success for the business and its customers, with sound Environmental, Social and Governance underpinnings, and we are proud to be involved in this next exciting stage for the business,” said Brown.
“We’re thrilled to have the support and backing of Federation, not only because it is founded by some of Australia’s most experienced investment professionals, but also because of our shared vision for business that serves the community and the environment. I couldn’t think of a better group to partner with as we take Sendle into its next stage of growth. The new funds will go towards extending that impact for even more small businesses in Australia, and hopefully, around the world,” said Chin Moody.
The Series B rounds out 12 months of record growth and product innovation for Sendle. In 2018, it announced the launch of a price guarantee, Australia’s first two-day delivery guarantee, a 24 hour drop off service and a partnership with Pitney Bowes. Sendle was the first Australian courier to release 100% compostable green satchels, while its inaugural brand campaign ‘Why Post when you can Sendle”, launched in May. The campaign boldly centred on the phrase ‘Post without the Office’, which Sendle successfully trademarked in 2017 after its courtroom victory against Australia Post.
