Perishable Shipping Solutions (PSS) has closed an $8.7M Series A round of financing. The investment was led by SJF Ventures with participation from Grotech Ventures and others including Supply Chain Ventures. David Griest, Managing Director at SJF Ventures, Lawson DeVries, Managing General Partner at Grotech Ventures and Eric Spiegel, retired CEO of Siemens USA will join the PSS Board of Directors.
The capital infusion will be used to meet and accelerate the growing demand for Perishable Shipping Solutions’ direct-to-consumer services. PSS plans to add new fulfillment facilities and personnel in several states and to further develop its multi-channel direct shipping and analytics platform. PSS will also repay its Federal CARES Act loan, which provided vital liquidity during the COVID-19 credit crunch.
Demand Driven by Digital Shifts in Consumer Shopping PSS has experienced strong growth, driven by the acceleration of new consumer e-commerce shopping behaviors in grocery and specialty foods, including an openness to trying different brands and the convenience of online purchases. The ability to pivot to online direct-to-consumer sales has also been critical for many food business owners during the pandemic, when their traditional markets were not available.
“Digital grocery and specialty food purchases are here to stay. Cold, frozen and foods without preservatives require our specialized handling operations, from receipt of the order to the consumer’s table,” notes Mark Nelson, CEO of Perishable Shipping Solutions. “We’re thrilled that our investors recognize PSS’ critical role in this cold supply chain and are partnering to further accelerate our growth.”
The company’s shipping and fulfillment services solve the last mile challenge in the delivery of perishable cold foods. By aggregating internet-based cold food purveyors, Perishable Shipping Solutions offers its customers a one-stop service with the reliability, economies of scale, and reduced costs that individual customers could never achieve.
“Shipping foods that are frozen or require continuous cold are the hardest to get right – there’s no margin for error,” states David Griest of SJF Ventures. “We are impressed with how Perishable Shipping Solutions perfectly solves this key pain point while providing a scalable supply chain solution. Growing e-commerce brands can now focus on their food & beverage products, while PSS handles the backend logistics for fast delivery to their customers.”
“Perishable Shipping Solutions is an exciting business for us in several ways,” says Lawson DeVries, of Grotech Ventures. “We were attracted by the acumen of the leadership team, the exceptional growth in customer acquisition as well as the synergies with other Grotech portfolio companies. We see strong tailwinds and look forward to great success together.”
