Investment firms Canica and Verdane Capital have paid an undisclosed amount for a majority stake in Porterbuddy, a Norway-based e-commerce courier service backed by clothing retailer Varner-Gruppen and online pharmacy Farmasiet.
The deal valued Porterbuddy at NOK200m ($22.6m) according to Nordic9. Porterbuddy had closed a $4.4m round in December 2019 featuring Canica, Varner-Gruppen and Farmasiet at a reported $11m to $13m valuation.
Founded in 2016, Porterbuddy has created a last-mile logistics platform that uses machine learning to automatically assign available couriers to deliveries in order to maximise efficiency.
The company’s software can be integrated with e-commerce checkout systems so customer orders are immediately routed. Retailers can also allow customers to add purchases to their delivery even after their initial order has been finalised.