Shopify Snaps Up Logistics Startup Deliverr For $2.1B In Its Largest Acquisition Yet

E-commerce software company Shopify said Thursday that it’s buying logistics and fulfillment unicorn Deliverr for $2.1 billion, marking its largest acquisition yet.

Shopify shares dropped more than 17 percent in Thursday morning trading after it announced the deal and reported disappointing earnings that widely missed analyst expectations.

San Francisco-based Deliverr was founded in 2017 and has raised more than $490 million in venture funding to date, per Crunchbase data, including a November 2021 Series E led by Tiger Global Management that valued it an estimated $2 billion, post money. Other investors in the startup include Coatue, Activant Capital and GLP.

Venture investors are spending record sums on startups in the shipping and logistics space as global supply chains continue to be snarled by the pandemic, surging consumer demand and manufacturing bottlenecks. All told, venture-backed supply chain management companies raised a record $11.3 billion worldwide last year, according to Crunchbase data—nearly double the figure from 2020.

Shopify, based in Ottawa, said the addition of Deliverr to its platform will help merchants “be able to reduce logistics costs and eliminate the hassle of managing complex supply chains.”

Specifically, adding Deliverr’s technology to the Shopify platform will give e-commerce companies a one-stop place to ship their inventory from different sales channels—including a Shopify-powered website, brick-and-mortar stores and other marketplaces, including Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Walmart, as well as sales made through social platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

The deal also brings along a network of warehouses, carriers and last-mile delivery services, Shopify said, meaning that it will be able to offer its customers the ability to do reliable two-day and next-day delivery across the U.S.

Illustration: Dom Guzman

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