Instabox chief executive Alexis Priftis. Image: Instabox
The Swedish company plans to use the funds to expand its network of delivery lockers outside of Scandinavia.
Instabox, a Swedish last-mile delivery start-up, has raised $90m to expand its services amid growing volumes of e-commerce deliveries.
The company carries out deliveries for online retailers and operates a ‘hyperlocal fulfilment network’ with delivery boxes in cities for last-mile delivery where consumers can track and then pick up their own orders.
The funding, led by EQT Ventures, will be used to further expand the service and the underlying tech, as well as Instabox’s recently launched bike delivery service called Instabikes.
The past year has seen a surge in e-commerce during the pandemic, which has driven up the volume of parcels being delivered.
According to the company, it is delivering more than 1m parcels a month in Sweden. Some of its retail partners include H&M and Ikea. The company added that its system is a more sustainable option for delivery processes.
“The shipping industry consists of ancient postal companies using fossil fuels and fossil tech – which is why we’re super-excited about this new partnership with EQT Ventures,” Instabox chief executive Alexis Priftis said.
“The new funding will allow us to take our super-fast, hassle-free and fossil fuel-free shipping to millions more consumers across Europe and spark a renaissance in online shopping, just as we have done in Sweden.”
Priftis co-founded Instabox in 2015 with Staffan Gabrielsson and Johan Lundin, and started with carrying out deliveries for a local pharmacy in Stockholm to eight lockers in the city. It has since expanded into Denmark and Norway and plans to enter new markets this year.
This latest round of investment comes less than a year after the company secured $39m in funding, mostly in debt financing.
“Instabox is bringing tech DNA and customer-centricity to one of the largest and oldest industries in the economy, and the market feedback is crystal clear in their fantastic growth,” EQT Ventures partner Ashley Lundström said.
