James Malley, co-founder and CEO of Paccurate, likes to joke that once you step into the world of supply chain technology, you can't leave the category.
Ten years ago, Marie and Patrick Powers were working together as consultants when they started getting asked the same questions over and over again. Customers wanted help reducing empty space in their shipping boxes to avoid newly introduced fees from shippers like FedEx and UPS. Unable to find any good software to solve their problem, Murray and Powers began considering solving the problem themselves.
“We were interested in the butterfly effect in this problem space,” Murray told TechCrunch. “The more we fine-tune our packaging, the greater the downstream scale. Using 10% smaller boxes means, on average, 10% fewer pallets and 10% fewer truck trips. It is also one of the few areas in the supply chain where sustainability and cost reduction are one and the same.”
After several years of research and development, we officially launched Paccurate in 2018. The software helps parcel shippers determine the most cost-effective and sustainable way to ship the items they need (a process known as cartonization), taking into account factors such as size. Helpful. , weight, and packaging requirements. Brands can also use Paccurate's API to build their own systems.
Murray said cartoning is often built into other supply chain software, but many companies don't trust it. Some services are simply not accurate, while others are focused on helping businesses put as much product as possible into as few boxes as possible, when that is actually always the most sustainable option. It's not a cost-effective option, Murray said.
When Murray and Powers started the business, they envisioned it as a technology to “build better mousetraps” and not necessarily a venture-sized company. Murray said the company was content to launch Paccurate in-house and license its technology to other software companies until the pandemic changed its plans.
But Paccurate saw an influx of new and large customers during the coronavirus e-commerce boom, so the startup started raising venture funding and raised a seed round in 2022 to meet demand. Since then, growth has only accelerated. Last year, the company was processing about 1 million shipments a month; now it's about 1 million shipments a day, and Paccurate has partnered with brands like Daily Harvest and Our Place. Masu.
Paccurate recently raised $8.1 million in a Series A round led by Indianapolis-based VC High Alpha with participation from Tech Square Ventures, Grand Ventures, Springtime Ventures and others.
This type of logistics is still largely dominated by traditional supply chain software players such as Numina Group and Packsize. Paccurate is not the only startup in this space, but Belgian company Optioryx is also one of them. This market is much less saturated than many other areas of the supply chain, such as last-mile freight.
Murray said he expects growth to continue for several reasons. As an example, Murray said warehousing and shipping are one of the few areas where companies can actually reduce costs. He said for years companies seemed to be focused on bringing automation and robotics into warehouses to reduce costs, but now more companies are looking at this area. he added.
Second, regulations will soon cause companies to think more about packaging methods. The European Union recently introduced regulations requiring shipping boxes to be at least 50% full. In the United States, New Jersey introduced a bill earlier this year that would require boxes to be at least half full. The bill passed the state Senate.
“A well-packed box is usually not as full as you think. A box that is 50% empty may have been well-packed, and the penalties for not packing it properly are: It’s amazing,” Marie said. “This is the canary in the coal mine. We'll be keeping a close eye on which state is next.”