SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pandion, the first parcel network designed specifically for the needs of e-commerce and online retailers, announced today that it will open its first sortation facility in Quakertown, Pennsylvania this fall, and has raised an oversubscribed $22.5 million Series A round, immediately followed by a $7.5M additional investment led by new investor Telstra Ventures. The Series A round was led by Bow Capital with participation from existing investors Playground Global, Schematic Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures and Innovation Endeavors. The new funds will support the hiring of more than 80 people for the Quakertown facility, as Pandion begins dynamically routing packages for Fortune 100 retailers ahead of the holiday shopping season, which is expected to see 7% more sales than last year.
Since emerging from stealth in February 2021, Pandion has made several additional key hires in the logistics and e-commerce space to work alongside founder/CEO Scott Ruffin, the former head of Amazon Air and former VP and head of Walmart’s e-commerce transportation division. The Pandion team includes some of the sharpest minds in e-commerce logistics, with experience ranging from managing more than 20% of Amazon fulfillment centers; leading Walmart’s sortation centers; managing logistics and processes at FedEx and UPS; and building machine learning models for Cruise, Stitch Fix, and Tesla.
In addition to the growing team, Pandion is assembling an advisory board that includes industry giants such as former C-Suite executives at UPS, former senior operations leaders at Amazon, and former top e-commerce retailer senior executives.
“Since exiting stealth earlier this year, we’ve received enough demand - from companies ranging from Fortune 100 retailers to smaller e-commerce shippers - to increase our originally planned capacity,” said founder and CEO Scott Ruffin. “Our mission is to provide low-cost, high-performance delivery that’s purpose-built for e-commerce, and today’s funding will help us continue to scale our technology and sortation center teams as we start operations ahead of another holiday shopping season where demand is expected to significantly outpace capacity.”
With the opening of its Quakertown facility, Pandion will hire 80+ people to work on-site, offering employees benefits, highly competitive pay, and a world class work environment.
Located in an optimal location to meet the Northeast and MidAtlantic’s shipping needs, the 150,000 square foot sortation center can sort and deliver millions of packages per month. The facility was leased through logistics real estate investor, developer and operator Cabot Properties.
“The incumbent shippers weren’t built for e-commerce, and shoppers often feel the strain through delayed deliveries, missing packages, and poor customer experience,” said Rafi Syed, General Partner of Bow Capital. “Scott and the team at Pandion are building the technology and network that will enable the e-commerce industry to exceed their customers’ expectations, even in capacity-constrained periods like the holidays. Today’s funding will help accelerate that vision.”
About Pandion
Founded in 2020 by Amazon and Walmart veteran Scott Ruffin, Pandion is using machine learning to more efficiently transport e-commerce packages, saving retailers and consumers time and money. Visit pandionpro.com for more information.
About Bow Capital
Bow (better our world) Capital is an investment platform with a mission to partner with the best entrepreneurs using technology to advance society. Founded as a strategic collaboration between the University of California Investments Office and Vivek Ranadivé, the firm provides capital to companies at all stages of the lifecycle all the way from founding to the public markets.
About Playground Global
Playground Global invests in founders harnessing frontier technologies to build transformational businesses with multi-generational impact. Recognizing the promise in early stage entrepreneurs developing new solutions in artificial intelligence, automation, life sciences, next-gen compute, cybersecurity, aerospace, and beyond, Playground offers world-class expertise across a wide variety of business and technical domains to help companies achieve their potential. Learn more at playground.global.
