Co-warehouse Company Saltbox Closes $35 Million Series B • businessroundups.org

Coworking and warehouse space company Salt box today announced the completion of a $35 million Series B led by Cox Enterprises and Pendulum Holdings. The news comes more than a year after Saltbox closed a $10.6 million Series A, bringing total funding to $56 million.

As businessroundups.org previously reported, Saltbox, founded in 2019 by Tyler Scriven, Maxwell Bonnieand Paul D’Arrigo – is a pioneer in what it calls ‘co-warehousing’. With more than 10 facilities across the country, small businesses and e-commerce outfits can ship and store goods all in one place. There are no lease obligations and the company also offers integrated logistics services, such as equipment rental.

Scriven, the company’s CEO, told businessroundups.org that the company plans to use the additional capital to open at least three more locations, two of which will open by the end of the year. The new Saltboxes will be placed in Miami, Minneapolis and Phoenix. The company also wants to invest in software to create a more seamless logistics ecosystem.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in physical infrastructure and service over the first three years, and we’re going to focus more on software now,” Scriven told businessroundups.org. “Our goal is to create a hassle-free end-to-end logistics ecosystem that is incredibly accessible and approachable for small businesses.”

Saltbox is also facing the changing tides of the real estate and e-commerce markets. The former is up, while the latter is decreasing a bit. Scriven said both situations helped companies realize the need for Saltbox as they faced supply chain and logistics issues and the financial challenges of keeping a business afloat.

“Our customers made it clear to us that Saltbox was essential,” Scriven said, adding that the company hopes to educate and tap into the emerging crop of digital entrepreneurs about the importance of orderly logistics flow.

“One of the key ways we’re increasing our brand presence and brand awareness is by closing that knowledge gap,” he said. “Becoming not only an operational supplier and partner to these companies, but also a source of knowledge and inspiration, a source of confidence to address this vitally important aspect of their business.”

Saltbox’s Series B comes on what has been a discouraging year for Black founders. businessroundups.org previously reported that Black founders raised just 0.43% — or $187 million — of the nearly $43 billion in venture capital allocated this third quarter. Scriven and Bonnie, who are black, represent outliers in a year when many VCs retreated to their legacy networks during an economic downturn.

Scriven said it took about four months to close this round and said the company heard “many more nos than yeses.” However, he added that an established reputation, product fit and resilience helped them get through.

Saltbox already had an established relationship with its investors. Approaching new investors is difficult in tough economic times, Scriven noted, which is why leaning into their existing network was imperative.

“I feel very lucky to not only have completed this round, but to have done it with truly phenomenal investors that we know well and trust,” Scriven continued.

Robbie Robinson, the CEO and co-founder of Pendulum Holdings, said Scriven and the Saltbox team have succeeded in tapping into a “strategic and unique opportunity” that resides at the “intersection of community and shared services in the of storage, inventory management and execution”. .”

“This is evident in the growth of the company and its continued expansion in different regions indicates the high demand for this differentiated bundling of services,” said Robinson. “I’m excited to join Saltbox’s board of directors and continue Pendulum’s collaboration with the team as they build an infrastructure that supports emerging and high-growth small to medium-sized businesses that power our economy.”

“With its mission to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs to launch, grow and scale, Saltbox is a great partner to continue Cox’s mission to contribute to the economic well-being of a greater number of companies and their employees Evelyn Bolden, the senior director of strategy and investments for Cox Enterprises, said. “Saltbox is committed to helping e-commerce owners get the most out of their businesses in a community-focused workspace.”

Others in the round include Playground Global, Kapor Capital and Lincoln Properties West.

Scriven said he hopes to stay focused on making the most impact he can. That means the company will double down on its mission to help small businesses adapt to the ever-changing retail economic landscape because, as Scriven puts it, “when small businesses are threatened, the core of our economy is threatened. “

“It is a basic need to ensure that SMEs have access to a highly accessible, highly approachable, people-centric logistics platform that can truly meet them where they are and ensure that they not only remain competitive, but ultimately thrive,” said Scriven. “This is a problem that must be solved, and it is not optional to solve the problem.”