Bringg, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery logistics platform, has raised $30 million in a round of funding from Salesforce, Viola Growth, Siemens’ Next47, OG Ventures, and GLP.
The raise comes as demand for delivery services has surged over the past month, with consumers and businesses forced into lockdown due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Founded out of Tel Aviv in 2013, Bringg offers a modular logistics platform that allows companies of all sizes to choose specific features and services to suit their needs. This includes smart-tracking tools to let customers follow their order from the warehouse to their home, live notifications and updates direct to a customer’s phone, route optimization to ensure the best times for multiple drop-offs, and tools to manage all aspects of deliveries and returns.
Bringg’s major selling point is that it helps companies compete with the likes of Amazon, as they don’t have to develop their own delivery and logistics infrastructure from scratch. Last month, Bringg launched a new free white label last-mile delivery offering, allowing companies to easily connect to third-party carriers for no extra charge — this was originally scheduled to launch later in 2020, but Bringg released the product early to help businesses including restaurants and grocery stores that were struggling to cope with increased demand for delivery services. It also offered specific features that are relevant to these times, including contactless delivery.
“At the moment, no one can fully compete head-to-head with Amazon, but Bringg allows enterprises to create a connected logistics network to be highly competitive and to thrive,” Bringg CEO Guy Bloch told VentureBeat. “BringgNow extends that ability to SMBs and offers solutions to repurpose staff and provide contactless delivery as well — crucial features for the current situation and beyond.”
Above: BringgNow: A new free offering from Bringg aimed at SMBs
Bringg had previously raised around $55 million, including a $25 million round last year, and with another $30 million in the bank it plans to scale its operations and workforce and target enterprises and SMBs that are looking to grow their reach in new markets.
Delivery demand
Businesses around the world are struggling to counter the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on sales, with workers and customers largely forced into isolation. At the same time, some industries are positively flourishing — including delivery and logistics. Indeed, with billions of people on lockdown around the world, grocery and food delivery services are in high demand.
Bringg said it has seen a 24% week-on-week increase in customer delivery volumes across a range of industries, including groceries, retail, food delivery, and more. The growth Bringg said it has seen in recent weeks is what it originally predicted would not happen for another few years.
“Enterprises we’ve spoken to were always aware that a big market shift was coming, but in a matter of only a few weeks that shift has fully arrived and almost everyone has been caught off guard,” Bloch said.
Other services have also experienced a major surge during the COVID-19 crisis, including social video-networking services. Many argue that any increase in demand is temporary, while others suggest the chaos will lead to wholesale permanent changes as customers become accustomed to a new normal. The bottom line is that we just don’t know what the long-term impact will be. But even if this pandemic does pass in the next few months, the recovery period will likely last a lot longer — which means consumers’ newfound habits may linger for a while too.
“Whether or not the COVID-19 delivery spike continues, two things are abundantly clear,” Bloch said. “The market comeback from coronavirus will be slow, and many of the social distancing habits adopted will remain. And with consumer behavior changing, businesses — especially SMBs — will need to adopt new fulfillment and delivery models to survive.”
Source: Read Full Article