We are thrilled to announce our investment in Weengs – the UK startup that collects, packs and ships items from small businesses and online sellers – investing in their £2.2M seed round alongside Cherry Ventures and LocalGlobe. The capital raised will help Weengs expand beyond London and extend their reach to take on other major cities both in the UK and abroad.
Weengs takes care of the most laborious and time-consuming aspect of selling goods online and offers a packaging and shipping service via a smartphone app. Small businesses, online sellers and individuals simply take a photo of the items they want to send, add the destination address, and request a pickup.
Then, within as little as an hour, one of Weeng’s “Angels” will collect the item and take it to the their warehouse where the item is professionally packaged in a custom-built box.
Finally, the package is shipped via one of Weeng’s shipping partners, which include Royal Mail, DHL and DPD. It costs £5 per pick up plus shipping rates.
“Small retailers and online sellers struggle to fulfil their online orders when it comes to packaging and shipping with a carrier, ” said Weengs co-founder Greg Zontanos. “They have no resources or experience to offer the shipping services their big competitors offer which usually results in delayed deliveries or damages due to poor packing. We offer high-scale logistics to them at an affordable price, ” he added.
At Seedcamp, we always look to back companies with strong founder-market fit and we were incredibly impressed by Alex and Greg who have worked together on previous ventures. Focusing on the first mile of delivery, the most frustrating and time-consuming part of the process for small businesses and individuals, their business model incorporates a pick up and packaging fee as well as a margin in discounted rates from partner delivery companies through bulk purchasing that, with scale, shows great potential and points towards strong unit economics.
What’s more, the team has created a fantastic, high quality product experience in a relatively short space of time and with limited resources. Operating originally out of their north London flat, they know how to hustle and we’re excited to see how, with smart capital, they’ll be able to scale and launch into new territories.
With market trends pointing towards an increase in small sellers and online marketplaces and boutique stores, such as those listed on Trouva, Weengs provides the perfect solution to a growing customer base.
Applications for pre-seed investment from Seedcamp are currently open. Apply here
