
I have a certain “emotional” attachment to e-commerce fulfillment businesses, as we once led the interim management of the company that ultimately became Amazon’s beachhead in Brazil. That said, emotion shouldn’t overshadow rational judgment — which is precisely why we rely on a seasoned Investment Committee (IC).
In April 2024, we then presented to our IC an opportunity to invest in ShipBob, a Chicago-based e-commerce fulfillment platform that provides warehousing, order processing, and shipping services through a network of more than 60 fulfillment centers across the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia.
At the time, we viewed the valuation as rich and the business more tech-enabled than truly tech — outside our core focus. That said, ShipBob’s warehouse management system (WMS), order management system (OMS), and multi-carrier shipping software are market-leading solutions and are even licensed as standalone products.
Now, Fabrica Ventures had the opportunity to invest a small amount in ShipBob at a meaningful discount to its last funding round of May 2022, when the company was valued at $2.0B. To date, ShipBob has raised $370M in equity from a strong roster of repeat VC investors, including Bain Capital, Menlo Ventures, Y Combinator, and Hyde Park.
ShipBob primarily serves small to medium-sized e-commerce businesses and omnichannel merchants, and is now expanding into the mid-market and enterprise segments (TikTok Shop US has become a major client). Its core customers are D2C brands selling consumer goods, with a growing focus on B2B fulfillment clients and international merchants requiring cross-border shipping solutions.
ShipBob integrates with major e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, Shein and Temu, and has fulfilled more than 250M orders with a 99.97% accuracy rate and 99.6% on-time shipping.
Conclusion
As the saying goes, “Alongside life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, you can now add another inalienable right: two-day shipping on practically everything.”
ShipBob is here to deliver that new “right”.