SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Care Package Direct, a new marketplace launched to supply small businesses and organizations (SMBs) with personal protective equipment, today announced the closing of $200,000 in seed funding led by Secure Personal Care Products LLC, a leading PPE manufacturer.
Care Package Direct is introducing a new subscription-based model that gets small organizations high-quality, certified PPE direct from the manufacturer, allowing business owners to confidently reopen as fast as possible.
According to the Opportunity Insights economic tracker, the number of small businesses open in the US has decreased by 29% compared to January 2020. And geography matters a lot: the World Economic Forum points out that New Orleans and the Bay Area are experiencing rates of small business closures that are almost double the national median.
Schools, churches, small retailers and other SMBs simply can’t afford to be shut down, and the typical small organization doesn’t have dedicated supply teams who can work with larger resellers to obtain large volume PPE shipments.
An Innovator in PPE-as-a-Service for SMBs
Care Package Direct’s unique ‘PPE-as-a-service’ model lets businesses acquire safety products with low upfront costs and eliminate supply delays and quality problems. Companies also can quickly scale up to meet increased demand due to changing regulations and needs.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare two clear facts: Small organizations with fewer than 100 employees or so, like businesses, schools and religious organizations, have difficulty integrating PPE supply into their daily workflow, so they are beholden to whatever is ‘left over’ from larger supply chain issues. And COVID-19 will be with us for a while, and these pandemic issues, while relatively short, can destroy a small organization very quickly if they aren’t prepared,” said Joel Vincent, founder and CEO of Care Package Direct. “By creating a service that can increase or decrease on-demand, curates top-quality products and builds safety-centric services, we allow SMBs to reliably address their needs without overwhelming staff or over-investing for events and situations that can be lengthy but ultimately temporary.”
The coming months will bring an increased focus on PPE for everyone: President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to sign a national face mask mandate on his first day in office as part of his 100-day plan to combat the pandemic. Having a “set it and forget it” way to keep supplies on hand for employees, customers and visitors is going to be part of 2021’s new normal.
Care Package Direct was founded in July, as the COVID-19 crisis spiked in the United States. Secure Personal Care Products LLC, a major manufacturer of PPE, signed on as the initial investor.
“SPCP is a California-based company that has been supplying high-quality, FDA-certified personal care products to medical facilities and elder care facilities in the USA for over 40 years,” said Hassan Zaidi, Secure Personal Care Products’ CEO. “We wanted a way to supply small businesses in this time of need, and Care Package Direct is the right partner to address the needs of small and medium businesses.”
By doing a national launch now, Care Package Direct can build the capacity to help businesses deal with the current surge in COVID cases. The company intends to use the funding to build out logistics to supply PPE-as-a-service in the United States. (Currently, PPE is limited by regulatory rules put in place by the federal government.) They also are building sales and marketing capacity as well as developing an online marketplace to carry more curated products that SMBs need for reopening.
In an effort to help the country get through the current winter surge, Care Package Direct has put together a special offer to new customers to make sure they are prepared for the next 100 days and beyond. You can find out more here.
About Care Package Direct
Care Package Direct was founded during the pandemic with the intent to make health and safety surveillance and supplies as simple as possible for companies not typically engaged in purchasing PPE and other health and safety requirements, but that may be required to do so due to new regulations. Its “PPE-as-a-Service” model gets small businesses high-quality, certified PPE direct from the manufacturer, allowing business owners to reopen quickly and safely. Learn more at carepackagedirect.com.
