Huboo, a UK-based e-commerce logistics service, secured £60m ($82m) yesterday in a series B round backed by shipping group AP Moller-Maersk and media group Hearst.
Mubadala Capital led the round and was joined by Ada Ventures, Stride.VC and Episode 1 as well as corporate venturing units Maersk Growth and Hearst Ventures. The round brings the company’s total funding to nearly £80m ($104m), it said.
Founded in 2017, Huboo provides fulfilment and logistics services for e-commerce companies and will use the funding to fuel its expansion across Europe. It already has a presence in the Netherlands and will soon build a fulfilment centre in Madrid, Spain.
Stride.VC led the company’s $18.1m series A round, in September 2020, which included Hearst Ventures, Maersk Growth, Ada Ventures, True Capital and existing backer Episode 1.
Martin Bysh, co-founder and chief executive of Huboo, said: “Scores of new and existing retail businesses now see their future in e-commerce, but while anyone can set up an online store-front and start selling within hours, the infrastructure powering e-commerce is alarmingly outdated, inefficient, inflexible and expensive.
“This is the problem we have set out to address with our hub model, which brings flexibility and affordability to the incredibly complex fulfilment piece so that online retailers of all sizes – from part-timers to fast-growth [direct-to-consumer] leaders – can benefit.”
