Logistics management platform Shippit has announced its first major investment since closing a $2.2m Series A capital raise in May, with the recruitment of Australian logistics veteran Dominic Culbert as its Head of Logistics.
Culbert has over 18 years of experience in ecommerce logistics, and most recently served as the Group Logistics and Delivery Solutions Manager at Mysale Group. In that role, he oversaw the implementation and setup of OzSale’s international and domestic delivery network, comprising of over 65 shipping lanes across 10 countries. Prior to this, he was Head of Distribution at BCP Marketing Services and developed supply chain solutions for Microsoft, Novell, Cisco, Palm, and Apple.
“I gained so much valuable experience and learnings from my time at OzSale,” Culbert told Dynamic Business. “It was an absolute pleasure to work with such an innovative company and outstanding team, leading the way in online retail. What attracted me to Shippit was the opportunity to use my experience to assist another innovative company at an important growth phase.”
William On, who co-founded Shippit with Rob Hango-Zada in May 2014, before launching it in February the following year, said Culbert’s appointment was a strategic part of his start-up’s vision and that it would assist with its expansion into the APAC market.
“Rob and I had no experience in the logistics space prior to starting Shippit,” he explained. “This was a boon during our initial growth phase as we focused on innovation that may otherwise have been constrained if we really knew what we were getting ourselves into! As our business has started to enter more of a scale-up and optimisation stage, we’ve reached a point where a deeper level of expertise was required to ensure the sustainability of our solutions and be able to continue innovating.
“We spent almost 6 months hiring for the Head of Logistics role before appointing Dom. In addition to our rigorous interview process, which included heavy technical and practical assessments, we sought to understand the impact each candidate had made in their business by seeking feedback from their internal and external stakeholders. The biggest win, when it comes to Dom’s appointment, will be for our client base as the breadth and depth of delivery services we offer will be greatly expanded.”
Asked how he and Hango-Zada, his co-CEO, will invest the remainder of their $2.2m Series A capital raise, William On replied, “Primarily in people and product development. We have a significant roadmap ahead of us and need the best minds and technology to deliver it. Dom’s appointment marks our first strategic hire but we have already secured additional strategic hires that we will be announcing in due course.”
Shippit currently services more than 750 merchants across Australia, including Sephora, Topshop, Thankyou and Pet Circle, with 250,000 parcels delivered via its platform each month
See also: Shippit’s co-CEO reveals why his start-up turned down $2.8 million from interested investors
