AfterShip, a B2B package tracking platform for online retailers, has closed $1 million of Series A funding from IDG Capital Partners (IDG-Accel), which previously invested in Baidu and Tencent.
AfterShip provides tracking APIs and Track Button widget to help online retailers easily add package tracking functionality to their stores. The service helps online retailers to track shipments, send notifications and get business intelligence on shipping performance.
AfterShip will use the raised funds to develop delivery analytics tools for online retailers to monitor the shipping performance, identify delayed shipments, and estimate the delivery time more accurately. It will also enhance the free Track Button to help online stores to easily display tracking results at their store.
Since its public launch in July 2013, AfterShip claimed to have integrated with 180+ carriers worldwide, with over 15,000 active users (including Groupon Goods, Etsy, Zalora, Lamido, Wish). AfterShip is currently tracking 3 million active shipments each month, with over 25% growth month on month, said the company’s co-founder Andrew Chan to TechNode. He added that AfterShip is also one of the top apps and extensions at Shopify, Bigcommerce, eBay and Magento.
“Sending online customers emails with just a tracking number and no tracking link to get the shipment status no longer meets the customer expectation.” said Teddy Chan, CEO and co-founder of AfterShip.
The Hong Kong-based startup puts its business focus on overseas market because, according to Andrew, most of foreign e-commerce retailers did not integrate real-time logistic tracking data in their sites as their Chinese counterparts do, like in Taobao. Around 60% of the company’s business comes North America, while the rest comes from Hong Kong, Chinese mainland, Europe, and south Africa, he added.
Additionaly, AfterShip will put more focus on tracking of cross-border packages while purchasing products or services from overseas markets has become a trend among online shoppers in recent years.
The company was co-founded by three youth at Startup Weekend program back in 2011. It also the winner for Global Startup Battle 2011. Although one of the co-founders dropped out of the project for further study, the other two founders Andrew Chan and Teddy Chan have bootstrapped the business to date. The company has broken even since last December and they also planned to recruit more talents after the funding.
